DENZEL WASHINGTON'S "SAFE HOUSE" TOPS THE BOX OFFICE!

Movie-goers elected Denzel Washington over the fiery Nicholas Cage in a tight President’s Day holiday weekend at the box office.

Washington’s “Safe House” earned $24 million in its second weekend to narrowly edge out last week’s box office champ, the romantic comedy “The Vow,” and Cage’s “Ghost Rider” to take the top spot. Universal’s thriller is projected to finish the four-day holiday stretch with $28.5 million.

“This is a testament to both Denzel and (co-star]) Ryan Reynolds,” Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal, told the News. “Adults want to see this kind of movie.”

Sony pictures had a nice consolation prize with its films, finishing in the second and third spots. “The Vow,” a three-hanky weeper starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, finished with $23.6 million and is projected to finish $27.4 million over four days.

The numbers are close enough between “Safe House” and “The Vow” that there is still a chance that their spots could be swapped when final numbers roll in Monday.

Audiences, however, seemed to be less in love with Sony’s “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” the second movie starring Cage as the motorcycle-riding Marvel super hero with a flaming skull.

While industry insiders had predicted earlier in the week that the film would ride off with the top spot in its debut weekend, the film couldn’t get into second gear, finishing third with $22 million ($25.5 million projected for the four-day weekend.)

“I thought the marketing campaign was good and this is time of year that a comic book movie like 'Ghost Rider' usually dominates,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. “It suddenly got highly competitive out there during a usual sleepy time at the box office.”

Overall, it was a great weekend to be a movie executive, as the industry continued its surge. After a 2011 where there was panic over dropping attendance rates, the box office finished this weekend up 19.3% from last year at the same time, according to Hollywood.com.

SOURCE