'Mama' Tops Weekend Box Office

Though horror films generally are a hit with male audiences, Mama appealed strongly to females, who made up 61% of its moviegoers. That was key on a weekend filled with male-driven movies, including Broken City, 'The Last Stand, Warner Bros.' Gangster Squad and the Weinstein Co.'s Django Unchained.

"It's an incredibly competitive marketplace for testosterone-driven films," said Dergarabedian.

The Weinstein Co.'s Silver Linings Playbook, nominated for eight Academy Awards including best picture, expanded to its largest number of theaters in its 10th week of release. Playing in 2,523 theaters, a jump of 1,713 theaters, the David O. Russell film took in $11.4 million on the weekend -- the same in which its star Jennifer Lawrence hosted Saturday Night Live -- for a cumulative of $55.3 million.

Also nominated for best picture, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, in its fourth week became the director's biggest box-office hit. It surpassed his previous film, Inglourious Basterds, by adding $8.2 million for a domestic total of $138.4 million.

Universal is owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp. (CMCSA). 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp. (NWS).

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