Neeson gets wolf's share of weekend box office

Liam Neeson danced with wolves, Sam Worthington fell right off that ledge and Katherine Heigl didn’t do as poorly as expected.

Overall the box office this past weekend was up more than 7 percent compared to the same slot last year, continuing Hollywood’s winning ways this January following a lousy 2011.

Neeson’s survival flick “The Grey” took in $20 million to lead the pack. Neeson has a thing for winter action flicks (“Taken,” “Unknown”), but audiences only gave “The Grey” a B- Cinemascore, so look for a big fall-off next week.

Hanging on to top all other newcomers was “Underworld: Awakening,” which made $12.5 million. Right behind was “One for the Money,” the Katherine Heigl film based on the very popular Stephanie Plum novels. Critically drubbed, “Money” still made $11.75 million.

Which topped the week’s other new release, “Man on a Ledge,” which eked out $8.3 million, showing that star Sam Worthington may be fine in special effects extravaganzas (“Avatar,” “Clash of the Titans”) but nobody’s much interested in him otherwise.

As far as Oscar nomination bumps, “The Descendants” took in $6.5 million in its 11th week of release, ending up in 7th place for the week. It should break $60 million this week. “The Artist,” meanwhile, came in 12th place with $3.3 million while top nominee “Hugo” only brought in $2.3 million.

The weekend estimates:

“The Grey” — $20 million, $20 million cumulative

“Underworld: Awakening” — $12.5 million, $45.13 million

“One for the Money” — $11.75 million, $11.75 milliom

“Red Tails” — $10.4 million, $33.78 million

“Man on a Ledge” — $8.3 million, $8.3 million

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” — $7.15 million, $21.1 million

“The Descendants” — $6.55 million, $58.85 million

“Contraband” — $6.53 million, $56.4 million

“Beauty and the Beast” — $5.3 million, $41.1 million

“Haywire” — $4 million, $15.28 million