MONDAY’S BOX OFFICE GETS UNEXPECTED LIFT

Monday turned out to be a bigger day at the box office than most pundits had expected, and in the case of two films, it proved to be a bigger day than Sunday. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse galloped to third place on the box office chart as it earned an estimated $4.8 million at 1,894 theaters — up 17.5 percent from Sunday’s $4.1 million. Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked took in $4.7 million to place fourth, up 3.3 percent from Sunday. It’s now inches away from crossing the $100-million mark domestically with its current gross after 18 days standing at $97.4 million. Although it was down 13 percent from Sunday, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol remained the leader on Monday with $8.7 million, followed by Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with $5.5 million.