The Box-Office Top Five

#1 [movie id="414921"]"The Twilight Saga: New Moon"[/movie] ($42.5 million)

#2 [movie id="420164"]"The Blind Side"[/movie] ($40.1 million)

#3 [movie id="381911"]"2012"[/movie] ($18 million)

#4 [movie id="344985"]"Old Dogs"[/movie] ($16.8 million)

#5 [artist id="356080"]"A Christmas Carol"[/artist] ($16 million)

Moviegoers expecting a clash between vampires and ninjas at the box office this weekend witnessed a surprising development as the greatest competition facing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" wasn't the debuting "Ninja Assassin," but the continually buzzed-about "The Blind Side" from Warner Bros.

Starring Sandra Bullock as a woman who adopts a homeless youth gifted with athletic excellence, "The Blind Side" has truly lived up to its name by captivating enough moviegoers to give "New Moon" a run for its money. While "New Moon" won its second weekend in a row -- and nothing, for now, can take away the multitude of records the film shattered in its [article id="1626778"]opening days[/article] -- "The Blind Side" was only $2.4 million away from a box-office coup d'état.

Despite losing the weekend, "The Blind Side" did successfully dethrone "New Moon" for a brief time over the holiday. On Thanksgiving Day, the family drama earned a first-place finish over "New Moon," which slipped into second place. The fans (and fangs) came out again to give "New Moon" the $42.5 million weekend victory check, but the $40.1 million second-place finish for "The Blind Side" is nothing to scoff at. Between this film's success and that of "The Proposal" last summer, Sandra Bullock is having a very nice year at the box office.

While studio executives at WB can pat themselves on the back for "The Blind Side," the company suffered disappointment in the form of "Ninja Assassin." Directed by James McTeigue and produced by the Wachowski brothers of "The Matrix" fame, "Ninja Assassin" failed to achieve its intended goal of eliminating the competition in its opening weekend at the box office. With only $13.1 million earned in 2,503 theaters, "Ninja Assassin" couldn't even dent the elite top five, though the film's modest budget of $40 million offers some hope that "Ninja Assassin" can eventually cover its expenses.

The weekend's other major new release was "Old Dogs," a family comedy headlined by Robin Williams and John Travolta. These old dogs proved that they still have new tricks up their sleeves by earning a fourth-place finish worth $16.8 million.

Upcoming Releases

Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal's physical similarities become the subject of next weekend's "Brothers" from Lionsgate. Meanwhile, fans curious to know what producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal's "Predators" might look like should check out Antal's "Armored" next weekend for a glimpse at the filmmaker's style and potential.

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "The Blind Side" and "2012."

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