Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau play a couple in Andres Muschietti's "Mama".

22 Jan – Golden Globe 2013 winner Jessica Chastain is on a roll: not only did she manage to win the award for her performance as Maya in Kathryn Bigelow's critically acclaimed "Zero Dark Thirty"; her debut horror film "Mama", directed by Andres Muschietti also had a spectacular debut over the weekend gone by (17 – 20 January). The Guillermo del Toro-produced is based on Muschietti's short film of the same name, about two children who narrowly escapes murder by their father when a mysterious figure known as 'Mama' saves them and cares for them. Five years later, the children are found by their uncle and his girlfriend Annabel, who takes them into their care, but it is not long before they discover that 'Mama' has also followed them home as well. The film grossed USD 33.0 million, an unusually high opening for an entry that doesn't utilize found footage.

Meanwhile, Chastain's aforementioned "Zero Dark Thirty" made second place. The historical drama film is a dramatization of the American operation that killed Osama bin Laden and also stars Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Mark Strong and Kyle Chandler. Rounding up the top three is another Best Picture Oscar nominee, "Silver Linings Playbook", directed by David O. Russell. In this romantic comedy, Bradley Cooper stars as Pat Solitano, a bipolar who has recently been released from a mental health facility into the care of his parents. Pat is obsessed with winning the heart of his ex-wife again and getting his life back on track, but he needs the help of Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow and recovering sex addict who also just lost her job, to help him get into Nikki's good books.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rodrigo Santoro in a scene from "The Last Stand".

As for Malaysians, many prefer to get their adrenaline from Kim Ji-woon's action film "The Last Stand", which stars the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The aging star plays Sheriff Ray Owens, a former LAPD officer who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction, Arizona. His quiet day off is soon disturbed by the appearance of international drug lord and FBI fugitive Gabriel Cortez, who plans to escape into Mexico through Sommerton Junction and Ray Owens is the only person who can stop him. In second place is "Mama", while Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Impossible" opened in third place. The disaster drama stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, chronicling the true story of one family's journey of survival and to ultimately, reunite with each other in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Naomi Watts and Tom Holland in a scene from "The Impossible".

In Singapore, it is Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Impossible" in first place, while "Mama" succeeded second place. In third place is Ruben Fleischer's "Gangster Squad". Other new movies that opened over the week in Malaysia are "Paper Moon" and "3AM".

New movies that opened over the week in Singapore are "10 Years", "Runway Cop (2D)", "Saadi Love Story" and "Cloud Atlas".