‘Shutter Island’ on a familiar Scorsese-DiCaprio box office track

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‘Shutter Island’ is starting to look a lot like Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s last collaboration, ‘The Departed.’

Though the new thriller opened to $41 million, compared with $26.9 million for the 2006 crime drama, ‘Shutter’ saw domestic ticket sales decline a studio-estimated 46% this weekend, its second, while ‘The Departed’ dropped only 29%.

‘Shutter Island’ is now on track to end up with a final domestic gross very close to that of ‘The Departed,’ which finished its run at $132.4 million.

If that represents a habit for collaborations between the director and star, it’s good news for Hollywood at a time when the only predictable outcome of late for R-rated dramas has been disappointment, with pictures including ‘Body of Lies,’ ‘The International,’ ‘The Informant’ and ‘The Wolfman.’ [Update, 3:27 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly included ‘Duplicity’ on this list. It was not rated R.]

Paramount Pictures should end up in good shape on ‘Shutter Island,’ which a representative said cost $75 million after tax credits (one person close to the production said the initial cost was close to $100 million).

It remains to be seen, however, whether the new movie can come anywhere close to the $157.5-million international box office total of ‘The Departed.’ After opening in 20 foreign territories so far, including France, Germany, and Australia, ‘Shutter Island’ has taken in $34 million. Major markets including Britain, Japan and all of Latin America are yet to come.

Among this weekend’s new movies, Warner Bros.’ buddy comedy ‘Cop Out’ had the edge, debuting to $18.6 million compared with $16.5 million for Overture Films’ horror remake ‘The Crazies.’ But ‘Cop Out’ cost $37 million to produce, about twice as much as ‘The Crazies.’

Both movies got an unimpressive average grade from audiences of B-, according to market research firm CinemaScore, meaning they likely won’t be propelled by good word-of-mouth in the coming weeks.

Of the three big movies that opened over Presidents Day weekend two weeks ago, ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ is showing by far the best staying power. Its ticket sales declined only 36% this weekend, putting it ahead of ‘Valentine’s Day’ and ‘The Wolfman,’ which debuted at the same time.

The ensemble romantic comedy ‘Valentine’s Day’ crossed the $100-million mark this weekend after debuting to a huge $56.3 million. Internationally, it has reached $95.4 million.

‘Wolfman’ started in a virtual tie with ‘Percy,’ with both pictures opening to just over $31 million in the U.S. and Canada. However Universal’s monster-movie remake has quickly dropped, taking in only $57.2 million domestically so far and $63.3 million overseas. ‘Percy Jackson’ has grossed $71.2 million domestically and $95.4 million overseas.

In limited release domestically, Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghost Writer’ expanded from four to 43 theaters and took in a healthy $870,000, or more than $20,000 per location. Its total after 10 days is $1.1 million.

Sony Pictures Classics debuted ‘A Prophet,’ from France -- Oscar nominee for best foreign language film -- to a solid $170,000 at nine theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Montreal.

Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

1. ‘Shutter Island’ (Paramount): $22.2 million, down 46% on its second weekend. $19 million overseas in 20 foreign territories. Domestic total: $75.1 million. International total: $34 million.

2. ‘Cop Out’ (Warner Bros.): Opened to $18.6 million.

3. ‘The Crazies’ (Overture/Participant/Imagenation): Opened to $16.5 million.

4. ‘Avatar’ (Fox/Dune/Ingenious): $14 million, down 14% on its 11th weekend. $36.1 million overseas in 70 foreign markets. Domestic total: $706.9 million. International total: $1.84 billion.

5. ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ (Fox/Dune/Ingenious): $9.8 million, down 36% on its third weekend. $19 million overseas in 65 foreign markets. Domestic total: $71.2 million. International total: $95.4 million.

6. ‘Valentine’s Day’ (Warner Bros./New Line): $9.5 million, down 43% on its third weekend. $10.4 million overseas in 58 foreign markets. Domestic total: $100.4 million. International total: $87.4 million.

7. ‘Dear John’ (Sony/Relativity): $5 million, down 30% on its fourth weekend. Domestic total: $72.6 million.

8. ‘The Wolfman’ (Universal/Relativity): $4.1 million, down 58% on its third weekend. $10.8 million overseas in 57 markets. Domestic total: $57.2 million. International total: $63.3 million.

9. ‘The Tooth Fairy’ (Fox/Walden): $3.5 million, down 21% on its sixth weekend. Domestic total: $53.9 million.

10. ‘Crazy Heart’ (Fox Searchlight): $2.5 million, down 14% on its 11th weekend. Domestic total: $25.1 million.

-- Ben Fritz