Weekend BO

YOUR MLK WEAKEND BOX OFFICE: Not everyone spent the time off glued to the TV, believe it or not. Universal’s Mark Wahlberg-starring Contraband debuted with $24.5 million, holding off the 3D treatment of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, which opened with with $17.75m, to win the three-day weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. Both films had robust per-screen averages, Contraband’s $8557 in 2863 theaters, and Beauty taking $6761 on each of 2625 screens. Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, still-strong in week four ($11.7m, -41%), edged Warner Bros.’ debuting, absolutely dreadful-looking Joyful Noise ($11.255m) to take the third spot. The Paramount-distribbed low-budget horror flick The Devil Inside suffered one of the worst second-weekend drops ever, generating only $8m, or -76.2%, to finish #6 behind WB’s Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows ($8.6m, -37.1%). Offerings from three renowned directors and a group of animated rodents rounded out the Top 10: David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Sony, $6.7m, -41%), Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (Disney, $5.93m, -31.6%), Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked ($5.9m, -37.9%) and the same studio’s Cameron Crowe-directed We Bought a Zoo ($5.5m, -33.2%). (1/17a)