Weekend Receipts: Mark Wahlberg, Contraband Smuggle Away to No. 1

A slightly above-average weekend at the box office abated further talks of a moviegoing slump (for now), with a proven star and a buffed-out Disney classic teaming up in the top two. Mission: Impossible continued its formidable hold, meanwhile, barely suppressing a certain Joyful Noise. Your Weekend Receipts are here.

1. Contraband
Gross: $24,100,000 (new)
Screens: 2,863 (PSA $8,418)
Weeks: 1

This week's Mark Wahlberg action-thriller -- based on the 2008 international hit Reykjavik-Rotterdam -- fared better than expected, potentially opening up a lucrative trend in Icelandic remakes. I nominate Dagur Kári's Nói albinói, the white-knuckle tale of a sensitive young man's coming of age in a remote fishing village (pop. 957). Could be huge.

2. Beauty and the Beast 3D
Gross: $18,490,000 (new)
Screens: 2,625 (PSA $7,044)
Weeks: 1

People will fucking watch anything, I swear.

3. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Gross: $11,500,000 ($186,747,000)
Screens: 3,346 (PSA $3,437)
Weeks: 5 (Change: -42.1%)

Hell, yes, Paula Patton was drunk at last night's Golden Globe Awards -- drunk on being the female lead in the biggest hit of the 2011-12 holiday session. Like any of us would have managed any better.

4. Joyful Noise
Gross: $11,345,000 (new)
Screens: 2,735 (PSA: $4,148)
Weeks: 1

The Queen Latifah/Dolly Parton church-choir escapade narrowly missed a third-place finish. One look at Parton, and the film's competitive shortcoming is clear: Needed more IMAX.

5. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Gross: $8,410,000 ($170,010,000)
Screens: 3,155 (PSA $2,666)
Weeks: 5 (Change: -38.6%)

6. The Devil Inside
Gross: $7,900,000 ($46,247,000)
Screens: 2,551 (PSA $3,097)
Weeks: 2 (Change: -76.6%)

Sherlock Holmes's continued, steady representation in the top five should not be overlooked, but the real congratulations are in order to the abysmally reviewed, popularly loathed found-footage pustule on the heel of contemporary Hollywood for making it into the top 20 biggest week-two drops ever. We all knew you could do it.

[Figures via Box Office Mojo]

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