Weekend Box Office: 'Chronicle' and 'The Woman in Black' Are Hits, Thanks to Young Folks

Yes, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and football takes center stage while movies stand to the side, waiting for the Oscars hype to kick in after football is out of the way. But there was still a lot of activity over the weekend, with two of the three big releases overperforming due to young people hitting theaters.

"Chronicle" looks to be the big winner, taking the top spot with a surprising $22 million. The found-footage superhero film was boosted by interest from young audiences as well as by positive reviews. Word of mouth might give this one legs for a decent cumulative total down the road.

Right behind "Chronicle" was "The Woman in Black," a new horror film starring Daniel Radcliffe of "Harry Potter" fame. Radcliffe must have been a draw for young audiences, as many of them went to theaters for this ghostly tale, which is a bit more old-school than most recent horror films. "The Woman in Black" pulled an estimated $21 million, but might pull ahead of "Chronicle" by Monday morning.

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" took the third spot with another $9.5 million in its second weekend. That brings the domestic total to $34.7 for the action thriller, so if this continues you can expect to see Neeson in more action roles very soon.

That means that the whale rescue story "Big Miracle" placed fourth in its opening weekend with an underwhelming but not unexpected $8.5 million. The movie stars Drew Barrymore, Jon Krasinski and Kristen Bell, and is thus lacking a major name to draw broad audiences. Family films tend to hold over well, though, so we'll see how this one does down the stretch.

"Underworld Awakening" took fifth place with $5.6 million in its third weekend, bringing the domestic cume to $54.4. That makes this yet another fairly successful outing for the series. Will Kate Beckinsale do another one?

1. "Chronicle" - $22 million
2. "The Woman in Black" - $21 million
3. "The Grey" - $9.5 million ($34.7M)
4. "Big Miracle" - $8.5 million
5. "Underworld Awakening" - $5.6 million ($54.4M)