Weekend Box Office: 'Safe House' Reigns, 'Ghost Rider' Stalls

Just about everyone could have told Sony that making another "Ghost Rider" movie with Nicolas Cage was probably a bad idea. But the project went ahead anyway, to disastrous results.

"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" came in fourth place on the weekend with $25.7 million. That's well short of even the most conservative predictions, which usually hovered around $35 million, and even shorter of the opening for the first "Ghost Rider" movie, which pulled in just over $50 million. Since the first movie was so poorly received by critics and fans alike, one has to wonder why a second movie, still with Cage in the lead, would be approved.

Ahead of the superhero flick were "Safe House," which took first place with $28.4 million for a two-week cume of $82.6 million; "The Vow," which took second with $26.6 million for a cume of $88.5M; and "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," which took a close third place with $26.4 million for a cume of $59.5 million.

"The Vow" and "Journey 2" can also boast great holdover numbers, as the former dropped about 43% and the latter dropped an incredibly slim 27%.

The weekend's other big opener, "This Means War," pulled in $20.4 million over the weekend for a cume of $22 million including limited release numbers. That means that the top five movies all pulled in more than $20 million, making this weekend another strong one at the box office.

1. "Safe House" - $28.4 million ($82.6M)
2. "The Vow" - $26.6 million ($88.5M)
3. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" - $26.4 million ($59.5M)
4. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" - $25.7 million
5. "This Means War" - $20.4 million ($22M)