The star-laden Valentine’s Day has topped the US box office, as the film cashed in on the romantic holiday.

Starring Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway and Jamie Foxx, among many others, the movie took $52.4m (£33.4m) in its opening three days. Children’s fantasy Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opened in second place, ahead of The Wolfman. Adapted from a fantasy book series, Percy Jackson stars Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan.

Its takings of $31.1m (£19.8m) just pipped The Wolfman, an update of the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr classic – this time starring Benicio Del Toro, which took $30.6m (£19.5m). Blockbuster Avatar slipped to four, while last week’s number one, the romantic drama Dear John, fell to number five.

“To have a movie titled Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s weekend was a no-brainer that absolutely worked,” said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com.

The US also marks the Presidents Day national holiday on Monday, with final figures for the four-day holiday due out later.

Source: BBC