The Wolfman howls to the third spot in its opening weekend

After two years of delays and a number of issues surrounding the making of, including reports of massive re-editing and re-writes, the long-awaited THE WOLFMAN hit theaters this past weekend with exceptional results. While it scored third place overall, behind VALENTINE’S DAY and PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF, it still managed to take in an impressive amount, clocking in at around $30.6M!

For an R rated horror movie in February, that’s a damn fine number. And for a werewolf movie, it’s almost as good as it gets. According to Box Office Mojo, THE WOLFMAN made more cash in its opening weekend than any other werewolf movie ever made, with the exception of NEW MOON, which barely counts as a straight-up werewolf movie. The UNDERWORLD movies were up there (but not quite close enough), and shite like WOLF and CURSED weren’t even close.

But now that the word of mouth is spreading, the big question is…. will its numbers continue, or will it drop like a rock next week? I expect more than a 60% drop, as from what I’ve heard it’s just OK but nothing to write home about. Then again, most of you seemed to dig it, so who knows? Maybe it’ll continue to make a killing…

Check out the top 5 box office numbers below (yes, AVATAR is still trucking along–take that, DEAR JOHN!!!), and stick around to see who wins supreme next weekend when SHUTTER ISLAND hits theaters.

1. Valentine’s Day — $ 52.4 Million

2. Percy Jackson — $ 31.1 Million

3. Wolfman — $ 30.6 Million

4. Avatar — $ 22 Million

5. Dear John — $ 15.3 Million