Hollywood poised for record Valentine’s Day weekend after ‘The Vow’ and ‘Safe House’ make over $10 million Friday

Hollywood is going to be happy Monday morning if the rest of the weekend plays out as well as Friday did. With a collection of new films opening on Friday, Hollywood is likely going to break the previous record for the highest grossing February weekend in history. It could also be the first time ever that four films debut with $20 million or more on a non-holiday weekend. The Vow, the Rachel McAdams-Channing Tatum romantic drama, is in the lead, followed closely by the Denzel Washington thriller, Safe House.

According to Deadline, this weekend could be the first time the four films have opening weekend debuts of $20 million or more on a non-holiday, Friday to Sunday weekend. The Vow, Safe House, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 3D and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island are all poised to make over $20 million. The Vow and Safe House have already made over $10 million and are likely to finish the weekend with over $30 million.

On Friday night, The Hollywood Reporter predicted that The Vow would finish Friday with $14.5 million, while Deadline’s later estimate adds another $1 million to that total. Safe House and The Vow are both predicted to make between $37 million and $38 million, making this a competitive weekend.

The Vow and Safe House are both receiving strong audience response. Despite poor reviews from critics, audiences gave The Vow a B CinemaScore grade, while Safe House, which has received a mixed critical reaction, got an A- CinemaScore grade. Still, Safe House continues to prove just how reliable the Oscar-winning Washington is, since it will easily become another hit to add to his resume.

As for The Phantom Menace and Journey 2, the two films should finish the weekend north of $20 million. The Phantom Menace, which was first released in 2D in 1999, made $8.5 million on Friday, while Journey 2 made just $6 million. Revenues are expected to pick up for both as the weekend goes on, especially since Journey 2 received an A- CinemaScore grade from audiences.

Chronicle also performed well on Friday, grossing $3.5 million, so last weekend’s top-grossing film should finish the weekend with $11 million, Deadline predicts.