Box office

YOUR WEAKEND OSCAR-SPIKED BOX OFFICE: Late-blooming action hero Liam Neeson has done it again, as the Open Road-distribbed The Grey came out on top of the weekend box office with a solid $20 million on 3185 screens, significantly exceeding projections. Lions Gate’s One for the Money, starring Katherine Heigl, also beat expectations, taking in $11.7 million in 2737 theaters, making it #2 among new releases and #3 overall, behind Sony's Underworld: Awakening, with $12.5 million on 3078 screens. The Kate Beckinsale-starring film dropped by 51% from its opening-weekend. Fox's Red Tails made $10.4 million (-45%, 2573 theaters) in its second weekend, while a third debuting film, Summit’s Man on a Ledge, starring Sam Worthington, registered $8.2 million (2998 theaters). The movie receiving the biggest Oscar spike was The Descendants (Fox Searchlight), which registered $6.5 million in its 11th week, up 176%, as it expanded from about 600 to 2,000 screens. That put the Alexander Payne film at #7. The Artist (Weinstein Co.) took in $3.4 million (+42%, 897 theaters), good enough for #12, while Paramount's Hugo registered $2.3 million (965 screens) to finish #16. (1/30a)