Not a bad weekend at the box office -- unless you are behind a movie that is named for the holiday weekend and you ended up at No. 8 in the weekend box office.

From The Associated Press:

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” Paramount, $38,325,000, 3,455 locations, $11,093 average, $141,214,000, three weeks. (Review by The News-Herald's Mark Meszoros)
2. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” Warner Bros., $26,510,000, 3,703 locations, $7,159 average, $136,514,000, three weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
3. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Fox, $21,000,000, 3,724 locations, $5,639 average, $97,359,335, three weeks. (Review by The AP's Jake Coyle)
4. “War Horse,” Disney, $19,219,000, 2,547 locations, $7,546 average, $45,248,000, two weeks. (Review by The AP's Christy Lemire)
5. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Sony, $19,000,000, 2,914 locations, $6,520 average, $60,011,000, two weeks. (Review by Meszoros; "'Dragon' tattooed: Rooney Mara may never be the same" by Coyle)
6. “We Bought a Zoo,” Fox, $16,500,000, 3,163 locations, $5,217 average, $43,987,317, two weeks. (Review by Lemire)
7. “The Adventures of Tintin,” Paramount, $15,000,000, 3,087 locations, $4,859 average, $50,841,000, two weeks. ("'Adventures of Tintin' finally in U.S. theaters" by The AP's David Germain)
8. “New Year’s Eve,” Warner Bros., $7,735,000, 2,225 locations, $3,476 average, $47,397,000, four weeks. (Review by Coyle)
9. “The Darkest Hour,” Summit, $5,250,000, 2,327 locations, $2,256 average, $14,228,000, two weeks.
10. “The Descendants,” Fox Searchlight, $4,250,000, 758 locations, $5,607 average, $40,274,646, seven weeks. (Review by Lemire)
11. “The Muppets,” Disney, $3,782,000, 1,541 locations, $2,454 average, $83,649,000, six weeks. (Review by Meszoros; Q&A with Kermit the Frog by The AP's Derrik J. Lang)
12. “Hugo,” Paramount, $3,150,000, 951 locations, $3,312 average, $50,165,000, six weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
13. “Young Adult,” Paramount, $2,700,000, 987 locations, $2,736 average, $12,667,000, four weeks. (Review by Lemire)
14. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1,” Summit, $2,650,000, 1,411 locations, $1,878 average, $276,094,901, seven weeks. (Review by Meszoros)
15. “The Sitter,” Fox, $2,255,000, 1,348 locations, $1,673 average, $26,899,061, four weeks. (Review by Germain)
16. “The Artist,” Weinstein Co., $1,664,500, 167 locations, $9,967 average, $5,400,000, six weeks.
17. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Focus, $1,428,726, 57 locations, $25,065 average, $4,298,998, four weeks.
18. “My Week With Marilyn,” Weinstein Co., $1,173,933, 630 locations, $1,863 average, $9,184,000, six weeks.
19. “Puss in Boots,” Paramount, $1,015,000, 389 locations, $2,609 average, $145,767,000, 10 weeks. (Review by Lemire)
20. “Arthur Christmas,” Sony, $900,000, 1,524 locations, $591 average, $46,118,000, six weeks. (Review by Germain)

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