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Contraband has topped this weekend’s US box office.

Baltasar Kormákur’s action thriller pulled in more than $24m to outperform Disney’s rereleased Beauty and the Beast at the top end of the chart.

Joyful Noise was another new entry at number four, while last week’s chart-topper The Devil Inside fell to sixth.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol took third with $11.5m, with Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows rounding off the top five.

The US top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Contraband – $24,100,000
2. (-) Beauty and the Beast (3D) – $18,490,000
3. (2) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – $11,500,000
4. (-) Joyful Noise – $11,345,000
5. (3) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – $8,410,000
6. (1) The Devil Inside – $7,900,000
7. (4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – $6,800,000
8. (5) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – $5,800,000
9. (6) War Horse – $5,607,000
10. (26) The Iron Lady – $5,386,000

AMC has confirmed premiere dates for new seasons of Mad Men and The Killing.

Mad Men‘s fifth season kicks off with a two-hour special on Sunday March 25, while the latter returns with an episode of the same length on April 1, E! Online reports.

Jon Hamm, who plays Mad Men protagonist Don Draper, previously let the premiere date slip during a chat with the Doug Loves Movies podcast, but the network has now offered confirmation.

Matthew Weiner’s lengthy negotiations with AMC over budget and episode duration pushed the fifth season back from its usual summer slot and extended the hiatus between the fourth and fifth series to 17 months.

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Avatar 2 could miss its scheduled release date, it has been reported.

The follow-up to 2009’s Avatar is currently scheduled for release in December 2014, with a third instalment set to arrive a year later.

However, Jon Landau, a producer on the film, has claimed that the sequel is “four years away”, according to Bleeding Cool.

Director James Cameron said earlier this year that the upcoming Avatar sequels will not round out a trilogy, insisting the two films will be able to stand alone.

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The Devil Inside has topped the US box office in the first week of 2012.

The exorcism thriller pulls in $34.5m over the weekend, despite receiving negative reactions from both critics and audiences. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol falls to number two after holding first place for two consecutive weeks.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows comes in third, taking in $14.1m to bring its domestic total to $157.4m, while The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo climbs to fourth place, earning $11.4m.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked rounds out the top five.

The US top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) The Devil Inside – $34,500,000
2. (1) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – $20,500,000
3. (2) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – $14,100,000
4. (5) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – $11,400,000
5. (3) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – $9,500,000
6. (4) War Horse – $8,600,000
7. (6) We Bought a Zoo – $8,500,000
8. (7) The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn – $6,600,000
9. (-) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – $5,800,000
10. (8) New Year’s Eve – $3,300,000

NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt has admitted that the network suffered a “really bad” fall season.

In the latter half of 2011, the network cancelled new shows including The Playboy Club, Prime Suspect and Free Agents as ratings dropped by 11% to an average of 7.4 million viewers and a 2.5 adult demo.

“We had a really bad fall,” Greenblatt confessed at a press tour event. “[It was] worse than I had hoped for, but actually about what I expected.

“People keep saying the only place we have to go is up – which I think is true, but there’s a lot of work to do before we get there. We had few strong lead-ins – our most recent scripted hit, The Office, is six years old. Some of our older hits lost cast members.”

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Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as a villain in the Star Trek sequel, according to reports.

The Sherlock star will join fellow new signings Noel Clarke, who played Mickey Smith in the revived Doctor Who, and She’s Out Of My League actress Alice Eve in Star Trek 2, according to Variety.

The role, in the film directed by JJ Abrams, will be the British actor’s biggest to date following parts in War Horse, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Benedict is also due to voice the role of Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit films.

Star Trek 2 is set for release in May next year, with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto returning to their lead roles of Kirk and Spock.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has topped the US box office in the final week of 2011.

Tom Cruise’s espionage sequel held its place at number one, while Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked remain at numbers two and three respectively.

War Horse, Steven Spielberg’s new drama, climbs three spots to number four with $16.9 million over the New Year weekend.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo completes the top five.

George Clooney’s The Descendants re-enters the chart, moving up a place to number ten.

The US top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (1) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – $31,250,000
2. (2) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – $22,095,000
3. (3) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – $18,250,000
4. (7) War Horse – $16,940,000
5. (4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – $16,300,000
6. (6) We Bought a Zoo – $14,300,000
7. (5) The Adventures of Tintin – $12,000,000
8. (8) New Year’s Eve – $6,710,000
9. (9) The Darkest Hour – $4,300,000
10. (11) The Descendants – $3,650,000