Based on estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday according to Hollywood.com., here are the top 10 weekend box-office draws: 1. “The Grey,” $20 million

(CBS/AP) “The Grey” painted a rosy box office picture this weekend for Irish actor Liam Neeson, who at age 59 is emerging as a top-flight action hero.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, and opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers “Taken” and “Unknown.” Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated “The Grey,” which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. Up to now, he has been better known for his dramatic performances, like those in “Schindler’s List” and “Kinsey.”

“Liam is a true movie star, period,” said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It’s the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal. “My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year.”

Of the other two movies that opened this weekend, both to terrible reviews, “One for the Money” with Katherine Heigl fared better ($11.8 million) than “Man on a Ledge” with Sam Worthington ($8.3 million).

The Heigl film, 성주출장안마 based on a popular mystery book series, was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for “The Lincoln Lawyer.” David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of “One for the Money.”

Last week’s box-office leader, “Underworld: Awakenings,” Sony’s Screen Gem’s latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for “The Grey,” strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film “Red Tails,” which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar-contending films following Tuesday’s nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an “up” weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

Based on estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday according to Hollywood.com., here are the top 10 weekend box-office draws:

1. “The Grey,” $20 million.

2. “Underworld: Awakening,” $12.5 million.

3. “One for the Money,” $11.8 million.

4. “Red Tails,” $10.4 million.

5. “Man on a Ledge,” $8.3 million.

6. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” $7.1 million.

7. “The Descendants,” $6.6 million.

8. “Contraband,” $6.5 million.

9. “Beauty and the Beast,” $5.3 million.

10. “Haywire,” $4 million.