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With three new nationwide releases, along with a handful of strong holdovers, President's Day Weekend seems poised to be a busy time at movie theaters. Five years after the first Ghost Rider earned over $115 million, Nicolas Cage is back in the title role in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which opens at 3,174 locations (2,352 of which are in 3D). This Means War reaches 3,189 venues following mildly successful Valentine's Day previews, and Disney unveils the latest Studio Ghibli import The Secret World of Arrietty at 1,522 theaters. With The Vow, Safe House and Journey 2 still in the mix, five movies could wind up at over $20 million for the four-day weekend.Mark NeveldineBrian TaylorChris PineTom HardyReese WitherspoonTom CruiseCameron Diaz

With the popularity of 3D and Star Wars across the world, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that The Phantom Menace's 3D re-release would dominate when it opened in nearly all markets this weekend. That didn't come to pass, though, and instead Journey 2: The Mysterious Island easily took the top spot.Channing TatumRachel McAdams

With four movies opening to over $20 million for only the second time in history, it was a very good weekend to be in the movie business. The Vow wound up in first with an excellent $41.2 million, though Safe House wasn't far behind in second. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island also drastically outperformed expectations, and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 3D reaffirmed the enduring popularity of the Star Wars franchise. Overall box office was at over $191 million, which is behind Valentine's Day Weekend 2010 ($204.7 million) but up from with Valentine's Day 2009 ($188.9 million). Channing TatumRachel McAdamsDenzel WashingtonRyan ReynoldsDwayne Johnson

It was an incredibly busy day at the box office on Friday, with The Vow and Safe House exceeding already-high expectations. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 3D also opened strong, while Journey 2: The Mysterious Island surprisingly performed in line with its predecessor. The Top 10 earned just under $55 million, which makes yesterday the top-grossing Friday in February history.Denzel Washington

Midnight Update: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 3D opened to a solid $1.1 million at midnight screenings last night. More impressive, though, was The Vow's $700,000 midnight gross, which is fairly high for a romance. Finally, Safe House scored a decent $543,000 from 1,034 locations. Based on these results, it's reasonable to expect that all three of these movies finishes with over $20 million this weekend.Channing TatumRachel McAdamsDenzel WashingtonBrendan FraserDwayne Johnson

For the second weekend in a row, and fifth overall, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol took the top spot at the foreign box office. The blockbuster espionage sequel added $24.3 million from 50 markets, most of which came from an enormous $18.5 million second weekend haul in China. The movie has already made $54.4 million there, and China should pass Japan ($66.7 million) soon to become Ghost Protocol's highest-grossing territory. Since opening in mid-December, the movie has earned a massive $424.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $629.6 million.Tom CruiseGeorge Clooney

Even with most people distracted by the Giants or Patriots or whatever elaborate gameday dish they had been working on, this weekend still marked the first time in history that two movies opened above $20 million against the Super Bowl.

Chronicle and The Woman in Black both over-performed on Friday, though Chronicle wound up with a slight lead. Big Miracle wound up more in line with low expectations, though it could save face up against the Super Bowl on Sunday. The Top 10 was up 29 percent from the same Friday last year, indicating that this weekend should be the latest in a positive 2012 trend.Liam NeesonKatherine HeiglSam Worthington

On the first weekend in February, three new movies will try to steal eyes away from the Super Bowl, which is easily the biggest entertainment event of the year. Chronicle opens in 2,907 locations, while The Woman in Black haunts 2,855 venues. Big Miracle has a more modest launch at 2,128 theaters, though it has the best chance of serving as counterprogramming on Sunday. Brad PittDaniel Radcliffe

Following three-straight months of year-over-year declines, the movie business took a slight turn for the better in January 2012. Overall box office came in at over $831 million for the month, which is a 10 percent improvement from January 2011. That's not a high standard, though, considering the absolutely miserable state of the box office at this time last year. January 2012 did wind up down 21 percent from 2010 (which had Avatar) and 18 percent from 2009 (Gran Torino, Paul Blart), and was even a bit off from January 2008. Aside from last year, ticket sales were at their lowest levels since 1995, indicating that the business isn't completely out of the woods yet. Tom Cruise

Thanks to a huge opening in China, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is back in first place at the overseas box office this weekend. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also had another strong frame, and is well on its way to passing the original Sherlock's total, while The Descendants tallied solid numbers in a handful of major new markets.Tom CruiseBrad BirdJ.J. Abrams

With a clear premise and a popular actor operating within his wheelhouse, The Grey delivered upstart distributor Open Road Films their first number one debut this weekend. Meanwhile, One For the Money had an okay opening that exceeded most expectations, while Man on a Ledge was the latest mid-range Summit movie to underperform. Overall box office was at over $126 million for the weekend, which is up nearly 16 percent from the same time period last year.Liam NeesonKatherine HeiglSam Worthington

The opportunity to see Liam Neeson go head-to-head with a pack of wolves drew solid crowds on Friday, giving Open Road Films its first number one debut with The Grey. One For the Money put up decent numbers as well, and could finish ahead of Underworld Awakening for the three-day weekend. Finally, Sam Worthington's questionable star power wasn't enough to get audiences excited about Man on a Ledge, which disappointed in fifth place.Katherine HeiglAshton KutcherJosh DuhamelGeorge Lucas

After successfully beating up on countless European henchmen in Taken and Unknown, Liam Neeson is now set to face off against some hungry wolves in The Grey. The survival thriller opens at 3,185 locations this weekend, and should claim first place ahead of fellow newcomers Man on a Ledge (2,998 theaters) and One For the Money (2,737 theaters). Meanwhile, The Descendants has the biggest expansion among Oscar nominees (up to 1,997 locations), and should once again make its way in to the Top 10. Jason StathamKatherine HeiglSam WorthingtonAmanda SeyfriedAlexander PayneGeorge Clooney

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows led the overseas box office for the third-straight weekend, this time dropping 38 percent to $18.3 million. The movie added $2.5 million in Brazil, and also continued to play well in China (though official numbers aren't available due to Chinese New Year). Distributor Warner Bros. International is reporting that its $261.3 million gross-to-date is tracking 16 percent ahead of the first Sherlock movie in comparable markets. Including its domestic earnings, Game of Shadows has now made over $440 million worldwide, and it's set to open in France on Wednesday.

After two years in a row in which the Best Picture race was populated with a handful of blockbusters, The Help is the only one of 2011's nine nominees that has so far earned more than $100 million. On average the movies have made just $57.6 million prior to the nominations, which is up on the five-nominee years from 2004-2008 but way off from ten-nominee years 2010 ($119.5 million) and 2009 ($151.5 million).Billy Crystal

Underworld Awakening sunk its teeth in to the top spot at the box office this weekend, though that didn't stop Red Tails from also putting up strong numbers in its debut. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Haywire were less impressive, though, and The Artist failed to gain much traction in its nationwide expansion. At over $133 million, overall box office was up a whopping 30 percent from the same period last year.Kate BeckinsaleMark WahlbergTom HanksSandra Bullock