I made it to the movie theater this weekend and almost wished I had contributed to "Beauty and the Beast" taking second place at this weekend's box office. (I saw "The Artist", which was beautiful and which you all should see.)

From The Associated Press:

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Contraband,” $24 million ($1.5 million international). (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
2. “Beauty and the Beast,” $18.5 million.
3. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” $11.5 million ($16.8 million international). (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
4. “Joyful Noise,” $11.3 million. (Review by Lemire)
5. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” $8.4 million ($27.4 million international). (Review by Meszoros)
6. “The Devil Inside,” $7.9 million.
7. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” $6.8 million ($16.5 million international). (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by The AP's Jake Coyle)
8. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” $5.8 million ($14.4 million international). (Review by Coyle)
9. “War Horse,” $5.6 million ($8.5 million international). (Review by Lemire)
10. “The Iron Lady,” $5.3 million ($3.4 million international). (Review by Lemire)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl