Denzel Washington thriller is No. 1 draw

LOS ANGELES — Denzel Washington thriller Safe House rose to the No. 1 spot at movie box offices through Sunday, narrowly leading love story

The Vow over a long holiday weekend in the United States. Safe House took in $ 24 million at U. S. and Canadian theatres from Friday through Sunday taking the top slot after a second- place finish when the film debuted a week earlier.

Distributor Universal Pictures projected Safe House would gross $ 28.5 million domestically through Monday, the U. S. Presidents Day holiday. Also on Monday, the film’s global sales to date were expected to top $ 100 million. The movie stars Washington as a fugitive on the run with a rookie CIA operative played by Ryan Reynolds. Privately owned Relativity Media helped finance the film.

Close behind Safe House was last weekend’s winner, The Vow, with $ 23.6 million domestically from Friday through Sunday. Ticket sales were projected to reach $ 27.4 million through Monday. The movie stars Rachel Mcadams and Channing Tatum in the story of a man who must win back his wife’s heart after she loses her memory in a car crash. The weekend’s strongest new release was third- place

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. It opened with $ 22 million domestically for three days and was poised to reach $ 25.5 million through Monday. The 3- D movie starring Nicolas Cage as the devil’s bounty hunter is a followup to the original Ghost Rider, which opened over Presidents Day weekend in 2007.