‘Valentine’s Day’ love on a modest budget

It was a great weekend for low-budget love and not so great for big-budget scares.

Romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day” dominated the box office with a record-setting $66.9 million take over the long Presidents Day weekend, according to an estimate from distributor Warner Bros., while big-budget horror remake “The Wolfman” generated a so-so $36.5 million. “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” based on the popular kids’ book series, opened to a fairly good $38.8 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Grosses were similar overseas, where the romantic comedy posted the biggest opening as well.

The weekend results reflect audiences’ frequent preference in the last year for frothy, lighthearted fare over R-rated dramas.

It also demonstrated that moviegoing continues to be a preferred leisure activity during the economic downturn. Total ticket sales for Friday through Monday were $245 million, according to Hollywood.com, easily besting last year’s record $220 million. Many chose to go to movie theaters on Valentine’s Day itself, as the film of the same name set a new record for the holiday, collecting $23.5 million on Sunday.

“If you look at this weekend, it’s clear people want to go to the movies, and we had something for everyone in the marketplace,” said Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution for Universal Pictures.

With its huge opening and relatively modest production budget of $52 million, “Valentine’s Day” registered as an instant hit, a category that has recently been populated by other female-skewing pictures such as “Dear John” and “The Blind Side.”

“Valentine’s Day” also had a healthy start internationally, where it generated $35 million in 57 territories. It played best in English-speaking countries Australia and Great Britain.

Despite largely negative reviews, domestic audiences gave “Valentine’s Day” an average grade of B, according to market research firm CinemaScore. If good buzz drives it to play well in coming weeks, it could be the rare movie to turn a profit -- accounting for Warners’ marketing expenses and the fact that theaters keep half of ticket sales revenue -- based on box office alone.

“It looks like we’ll be around [theaters] for a while,” said Warners domestic distribution president Dan Fellman.

Universal Pictures and Relativity Media need the same to be true for their costly “Wolfman” after its less-than-impressive start. One person close to the production said it cost $150 million, though a studio spokeswoman said the cost after tax credits was $110 million.

In good news, ticket sales increased from Friday to Saturday, a sign that it didn’t just play to younger crowds as some horror movies do. However, the average audience grade for “Wolfman” was a weak C-plus. Bad buzz combined with another R-rated thriller, “Shutter Island,” debuting on Friday pose challenges to the film, which went through extensive reshoots and saw its release date delayed three times.

“Wolfman” grossed $21 million from 37 foreign markets this weekend. The only major country where it debuted in the top spot was Mexico.

Fox had hoped to start a new “Harry Potter”-like franchise with “Percy Jackson,” but it remains to be seen if returns for the first installment will justify a sequel. The studio, Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners together spent $95 million on production.

One positive sign for the film was that only about half the audience was families, suggesting it might appeal to a broader audience. Those who attended liked it, rating it B-plus.

Unlike many family-friendly films, however, “Percy Jackson” didn’t outdo its domestic gross overseas, opening to $28 million in 40 markets. While it was No. 1 in South Korea and Brazil, it started at No. 4 in such major markets as Britain and France.

ben.fritz@latimes.com