As reported on the MP home page earlier today, “Vantage Point” topped the box office this weekend with a $24 million haul, almost twice as much as second-week release “Jumper” ($12.65 million), which saw a large decline. “The Spiderwick Chronicles” ($12.6 million) took third, followed by “Step Up 2 the Streets” ($9.7 million), “Fool’s Gold” ($6.2 million) and “Definitely, Maybe” ($5.1 million).

As for the Oscars, Media Predict nailed three of the top four categories. The markets missed Marion Cotillard for Best Actress (as did many), but they did place her as a close second to favorite Julie Christie.

Amy Winehouse and Herbie Hancock got big boosts in the Billboard 200 from their Grammy hauls, each rocketing into the top 5 with Winehouse’s “Back to Black” hitting No. 2 behind Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static.” Hancock soared from No. 159 to No. 5.

For the week of February 11, FOX nabbed the top 3 spots in the Nielsen ratings with two episodes of “American Idol” and “Moment of Truth.” Tied for No. 4 were “60 Minutes,” “Deal or No Deal” and “Lost.”

Other than the late Benazir Bhutto’s “Reconciliation,” which hit the NYT non-fiction bestseller list at No. 2, there was minimal shake-up at the top on the NYT bestseller lists. Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” holds steady at #1. John Grisham’s “The Appeal” and James Patterson’s “7th Heaven” remained 1 and 2 on the fiction list.

“Jumper” soared to the top of the weekend box office heap with a rake of almost $34 million from Thursday to Sunday. “Step Up 2 the Streets” scored a surprise second place with a healthy $26.3 million. “The Spiderwick Chronicles” followed with $21.4 million. And in a duel of the date-movie flicks, second-week contender “Fool’s Gold” ($13 million) topped newcomer “Definitely, Maybe” ($12.4 million). 

In a movie-related story that caught our eye, Matthew B. Zeidman of Hollywood Today takes a hard look at why critically acclaimed films like “There Will Be Blood” don’t always fare well at the box office  – and why Hosannas from the critics don’t count for much in the end.

Pat yourselves on the back, MP users, because you correctly predicted that digital music King Kong Jack Johnson (No. 1), Sheryl Crow (No. 2), and Lenny Kravitz (No. 4) would all crack the Top 5 in their first week on the Billboard 200. Alicia Keys dropped from to No. 3 and the Grammy Nominees soundtrack held steady at No. 5.

Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” keeps its stranglehold on the top spot on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list, and John Grisham’s “The Appeal” holds the top spot on the fiction bestseller list for the 2nd week in a row. Khaled Hosseini’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is the greyjackjohnson166.jpg-hair of the list, holding steady at No. 5 in its 38th week on the fiction list.

It’s a hectic media Monday, with  Yahoo turning down Microsoft’s buyout bid, the writers’ strike seemingly coming to an end, and Amy Winehouse making headlines for yesterday’s Grammy haul.

Over the weekend, Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson’s “Fools Gold” won the top spot at the box office last weekend, pulling in $22 million despite tepid reviews. “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” took second in its opening weekend with $17.1 million. “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” ($10.5 million), “The Eye” ($6.6 million), and “Juno” ($5.73 million) rounded out the top five.

On the Billboard 200 Alicia Keys took back the top spot from the Juno Soundtrack. Two newcomers - The Mars Volta with “The Bedlam in Goliath” and Bullet for My Valentine’s “Scream Aim Fire” – entered the list at Nos. 3 and 4. 

The only new non-fiction book on the New York Times bestseller list is Chuck Liddell’s “Iceman,” which comes in at No. 9. Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” holds the top spot. On the fiction list where “The Purrfect Murder” by Rita Mae Brown (and her cat Sneaky Pie Brown) ends our long national wait for a best-selling animal book. 

An estimated 97.5 million people tuned in to the 2008 Super Bowl – just a touch more than Media Predict users’ prediction of 96.9 million. (Well done, traders.)

In other entertainment news, move over Oprah, there’s a new Queen of All Media, and her name is Hannah Montana. The 3-D flick “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” set a new record for box office rake ($29 million) on Super Bowl weekend, despite being shown on fewer than 700 screens. The best of the rest were Jessica Alba’s “The Eye” ($13 million), “27 Dresses” ($8.4 million), “Juno” ($7.5 million) and “Meet the Spartans” ($7.1 million).

More good news for “Juno”: the soundtrack moved to the top spot on the Billboard 200, displacing Alicia Keys “As I Am,” which dropped to #2. Natasha Bedingfield enters the charts at #3 with “Pocket Full of Sunshine,” followed by Mary J. Blige (“Growing Pains”) and Radiohead (“In Rainbows”). Albums from a bevy of established artists, including Jack Johnson, Foxy Brown, and Lenny Kravitz, hit stores this week.

Andrew Morton’s sensationalist Tom Cruise biography dropped to third on the NYT bestseller list. Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” reclaimed the top spot.