Despite a lack of true star power, Relativity Studios’ “Act of Valor” dominated this weekend’s box office, making over $24 million and easily becoming Relativity’s highest ever grossing film. The rest of this weekend’s top ten looks fairly similar to last week’s, with only three other new films debuting in the top ten. Despite dropping over 50 percent in revenue from last week, Sony affiliated films ‘The Vow’ and ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ also remained in the top ten.

Hit the jump for a full rundown of this weekend’s results.

‘Act of Valor’ took this week’s top spot not on the strength of recognizable stars but through a heavy marketing push from Relativity Studios. Numerous Super Bowl ads and tie-ins with videogames like Battlefield 3 helped give the film a strong $24.4 million debut, despite a lack of critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes has the film at a ‘rotten’ rating of 30 percent; however, the audience score is currently at 86 percent, meaning that moviegoers have really enjoyed what critics claim is a poorly acted and derivative action movie. Relativity has found a lot of success in recent months, with the 2011 film “Immortals” debuting at number one during its opening weekend.

Other films that made there debuts in this weekend’s top ten include “Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds,” Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston lead “Wanderlust,” and horror-thriller “Gone”. “Good Deeds” made its debut in second place, with $15.5 million, which is the second-worst debut ever for a Tyler Perry film.

While both films debuted in the top ten, “Wanderlust’ and ‘Gone’ are both widely considered to be failures, especially considering “Wanderlust’s” fairly star-studded cast and Amanda Seyfried’s starring role in “Gone.” “Wanderlust” debuted in eighth place with $6.5 million and “Gone” debuted in ninth with $4.7 million.

On the Sony front, last weekend’s number two film, Sony/Screen Gems “The Vow” remained in the top five this week, holding steady at fifth place with $9.9 million. Despite a slightly disappointing opening last weekend, “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” continues to make money for Sony Pictures Studios, ending this weekend at sixth place with little over $9 million.

Box Office Results: February 24-26, 2012

1. Act of Valor ($24,476,632)
2. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds ($15,583,924)
3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ($13,389,102)
4. Safe House ($10,926,145)
5. The Vow ($9,916,774)

Discuss:

Why do you think “Wanderlust” and “Gone” performed so poorly? Did you watch either of these box-office duds this past weekend?