One new release wandered into theaters this weekend, and with nothing but leftover Valentine's Day chocolates and ten week old alien misadventures, it was an easy run for number one.

Apparently now that Scorsese finally has his Oscar (courtesy of his last feature film, the 2006 drama The Departed) he's ready to set aside heavy dramas and move into special effects laden dramatic mystery thrillers. And the choice paid off.

His latest offering, Shutter Island scared up over $40 million this weekend, the highest box office opening for any Scorsese flick.

Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan's latest thriller The Ghost Write saw a warm welcome in small release, banking $179,000 in just four theaters.

Former Gilmore girl Alexis Bledel didn't fare so well. Her latest venture The Good Guy with freshman filmmaker Julio DePietro opened in nine locations with only $36,000 in sales.

Remember Mitchell Lichtenstein? The guy who wrote and directed Teeth, the creepy movie about the girl who had genitals with incisors? He was back this weekend with a new movie, Happy Tears starring Parker Posey and Demi Moore. It opened in just fifteen theaters, but couldn't even raise $1,000 per screen.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

1. Shutter Island * $40,200,000  -  Total: $40,200,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 2,991

2. Valentine's Day $17,160,000  -  Total: $87,422,000 LW: 1     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,665

3. Avatar $16,100,000  -  Total: $687,821,000 LW: 4     WR: 10     THTRS: 2,581

4. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief $15,300,000  -  Total: $58,760,000 LW: 3     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,396

5. The Wolfman $9,846,000  -  Total: $50,315,000 LW: 2     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,223

6. Dear John $7,300,000  -  Total: $65,971,000 LW: 5     WR: 3     THTRS: 3,062

7. Tooth Fairy $4,500,000  -  Total: $49,867,000 LW: 6     WR: 5     THTRS: 2,523

8. Crazy Heart $3,025,000  -  Total: $21,585,000 LW: 9     WR: 10     THTRS: 1,089

9. From Paris with Love $2,500,000  -  Total: $21,200,000 LW: 7     WR: 3     THTRS: 2,311

10. Edge of Darkness $2,210,000  -  Total: $40,314,000 LW: 8     WR: 4     THTRS: 2,118