Shutter Island holds on to number one

The Martin Scorsese-directed, Leo DiCaprio-starring spooky drama, Shutter Island, held on to the top spot in US box office for the second week in a row, fending off challenges from buddy comedy Cop Out and splatter-fest, The Crazies.

Shutter Island drew $22.2 million in new business, down almost 45 percent from opening weekend, but still strong enough to stay at the head of the pack. Shutter Island has drawn $75 million to date, just $5 million short of its $80 million production budget.

Cop Out, which co-stars Bruce Willis and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, as well as Sean William Scott, pulled in a strong but below expectation $18.5 million, while The Crazies drew $16.5 million despite having no notable big-screen stars.

Avatar held steady at fourth place with $14 million, the only other film this past weekend to top the $10 million mark. Soon the promotional items will outsell the movie tickets for the SF epic.

March should come in like a lion with the new Johnny Depp-Tim Burton collaboration, Alice In Wonderland, the only notable release of the coming weekend.