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With a body of strong holds and an excellent premiere in China, Slumdog Millionaire returned to the top of the foreign box office over the weekend, posting $12 million from 50 markets. In China, the picture's $2.93 million debut was the movie's most notable performance, ranking as the biggest launch in the past ten years for a movie not from China or America. Among holdovers, Slumdog grew two percent in Germany after a somewhat disappointing start and rose to first place in South Korea after a miniscule two percent dip. All told, Slumdog's worldwide total surpassed $300 million, including $171.3 million internationally. Next up on its schedule are the Philippines on April 11 and Japan on April 18.

Conquering the weekend, Monsters Vs. Aliens invaded with a smashing $59.3 million, while The Haunting in Connecticut crept into a distant second with a robust $23 million. Showing that it's the movies that drive the market more than anything else after several slow weekends, overall business jumped 37 percent over the same timeframe last year, and the weekend was the third most-attended on record for the end of March.

On Friday, Monsters Vs. Aliens and The Haunting in Connecticut had forceful debuts. Monsters landed with an estimated $16.7 million on over 7,000 screens at 4,104 sites, while Haunting grabbed an estimated $9.6 million on approximately 3,500 screens at 2,732 sites.

The foreign box office was treated to some local flavor over the weekend as a French comedy topped the chart. Coco grossed a sensational $11.7 million from three markets. In its native France, it earned $11.2 million, which was better than fellow comedies Disco and Iznogoud and even larger than The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Additionally it was Coco director and actor Gad Emaleh's largest opening to date, ahead of his box office hits La Doublure (The Valet, Hors de prix (Priceless) and La Vérité si je mens! 2.

Leading up to the weekend, the numbers pointed to a first-place showing for Knowing, given its genre, marketing push and the scope of its release, and that's what happened. The picture didn't need stellar grosses to top the weekend as March business has been lagging behind recent years. Overall weekend ticket sales were off seven percent from the same time last year, and attendance was the lowest in eight years. Nicolas CageJulia RobertsClive OwenDwayne Johnson

On Friday, Knowing arrived with an estimated $8.9 million on approximately 4,300 screens at 3,332 sites, handily leading the box office. In a single day, the supernatural thriller featuring Nicolas Cage out-grossed the first weekend of another Cage future-seeing thriller Next, and its initial attendance was on par with The Forgotten and Deja Vu among comparable titles. If Knowing follows the paths of those movies, it would wind up with a $24 million-plus opening weekend. Dwayne Johnson

Marley and Me leapt to the top of a soft foreign box office last weekend, grossing $14.1 million from 37 territories. The dog comedy's top market was the United Kingdom, where it led with an impressive $6.2 million opening. Its other debuts were less successful but encouraging nonetheless, including Russia ($2 million) and Belgium ($369,716). In holdover markets, Marley was also decent, falling 34 percent in Germany and 35 percent in the Netherlands. Overall, its total sits at $49.6 million, and it still has nearly half of Europe left to go on its schedule.

Race to Witch Mountain rocketed to the top of the box office with $24.4 million on approximately 4,400 screens at 3,187 sites, while last weekend's big draw, Watchmen, shrank by two thirds. As a whole, overall attendance hit a 13-year low for the time of year. While Race was a solid attraction, the movies below it simply lacked the appeal or were too old to maintain 2009's prior record-breaking rate, and Race didn't have the magnitude of past high profile March releases to compensate. Dwayne JohnsonWes CravenTyler PerryHarrison Ford

On Friday, Race to Witch Mountain arrived atop the box office with an estimated $6.8 million at 3,187 sites, taking a commanding lead for the weekend ahead of Watchmen and The Last House on the Left (2009). Walt Disney Pictures' family adventure featuring Dwayne "Dwayne Johnson" Johnson had a bit bigger first day than their last Johnson vehicle, The Game Plan, which debuted to a $6.3 million Friday on its way to a $23 million weekend. Wes CravenTyler Perry

Watchmen failed to entice an international audience to match its huge marketing blitz, extremely wide release and hype as an intended blockbuster, meeting a similar fate as Speed Racer, Max Payne and Body of Lies. In the recent past, domestic duds like The Golden Compass and Poseidon would usually hit their expected grosses overseas, but that's been a tall order lately.

Watchmen clocked in with a vibrant $55.2 million on approximately 7,500 screens at 3,611 theaters, handily topping a weekend where overall business was up nine percent over last year but cooled down from 2009's prior blistering pace. Zack SnyderTyler Perry

In its full opening day, Watchmen pulled in an estimated $25.1 million on approximately 7,500 screens at 3,611 theaters, including an estimated $4.55 million from its first midnight shows. That ranks as the eighth-highest grossing opening day for a superhero movie and 32nd among all movies. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, other comic book adaptations rate higher opening days, including the first X-Men and Hulk pictures, but Watchmen's first day wasn't far off from the first weekends of previous Alan Moore adaptations V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Zack SnyderTyler Perry

As the Watchmen entered the fray, the biggest superhero exited. Distributor Warner Bros. has hung up the cowl and cape for The Dark Knight after 231 days of service. With a $533.3 million final tally as of Mar. 5, the picture is the top superhero or comic book movie of all time. Heath LedgerDavid S. Goyer

In its midnight opening, Watchmen burst onto the scene with an estimated $4.55 million at 1,595 theaters. That compares favorably to 300, the movie Watchmen's marketing campaign cites, which racked up $2.5 million at 656 venues in its midnight opening two years ago. Watchmen's take, though, was less than a quarter of all-time champion The Dark Knight, which earned around $18.5 million at 3,040 sites in its midnight opening.

Slumdog Millionaire climbed to the top of the foreign box office over the weekend, grossing $16 million from 34 markets (three smaller markets remain unreported) for a $96.5 million total. The Best Picture winner rose 85 percent from the previous weekend, and its biggest single country increase was in Italy (up 556 percent). In the United Kingdom, it regained the lead with a seven percent boost, and it saw sizable bumps in Australia (53 percent to second place), France (61 percent) and Spain (73 percent), where it was No. 1 ahead of The Pink Panther 2's opening. In India, where Slumdog hasn't performed as well as recent local titles Delhi 6 or Chandni Chowk to China, it grew by 470 percent, pushing its total there to $6.3 million. Clint Eastwood

The final tally for February came in at nearly $770 million, marking the highest-grossing February ever. Business was up over ten percent from last year, which was the previous February best. Adjusting for ticket price inflation, though, February 2009 was effectively in a tie with February 2004 (fueled by The Passion of the Christ) and February 1997 (driven by two Star Wars special editions).

Topping the box office again, Madea dropped 61 percent and still made the Jonas Brothers look scrawny. While overall business wasn't a record breaker for the end of February or early March, coming in at a solid $111 million, the weekend boasted a 14 percent bump over last year. Tyler PerryHarrison Ford

The foreign box office was relatively quiet over the weekend due to a lack of new product in most markets. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button continued its reign with $21 million from 61 markets, lifting its total to $153 million. Although the fantastical drama was unremarkable in its debuts in seven smaller markets, its holdovers were solid. So far, its top markets are Japan ($16.8 million total), Germany ($16.1 million) and France ($14.7 million).

Madea under lockdown put the smackdown on the weekend box office, once again demonstrating the allure of a man cross-dressing as a big, fat granny. Collectively, all movies playing grossed more than $142 million, up 29 percent over the comparable timeframe last year and making this the biggest post-President's Day weekend on record.

After months of teetering on the brink of $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue, The Dark Knight has officially reached the milestone, distributor Warner Bros. announced today. The Batman sequel is the fourth movie in history to hit the mark, behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.