The latest Marvel comics adaptation opened on Friday, amidst mixed reviews, but mostly amidst negative ones. Most movie critics who got the chance to see 'Ghost Rider' in advance used the term 'stillborn' to refer to it, vouching that it would eventually turn out to be another huge flop (the budget for it was an estimated $120 million) for the main star, Nicholas Cage.

You know what they say, things rarely go as planned and 'Ghost Rider' was quick to illustrate this saying. Although the promotional campaign was impressive and the movie had the necessary star power, the critics would not admit that what the studio had invested was money well spent. On Friday, they all changed their minds. 'Ghost Rider' went straight to number one at the box-office, with $44.5 million worth of ticket sales, thus becoming Cage's biggest hit on the silver screen.

Recently, the Oscar-winning actor had a string of failures in terms of commercial success, what with 'Lord of War', 'The Weather Man' and 'The Wicker Man' bombing at the box-office. Until now, his biggest hit was with 'National Treasure' that grossed a little over $35 million in its opening weekend. Now that 'Ghost Rider' is out, Cage is bound to get back on track: estimates show that the action film will most likely go over the $60 million limit in its first week and over the $120 million when released internationally.

Another newcomer this weekend was Walt Disney's fantasy adventure 'Bridge to Terabithia', which grossed an estimated $22.1 million and finished at number 2. Being a family movie, it's likely that its stay in the top 10 will be longer than that of 'Ghost Rider'. Last week's number one, Eddie Murphy's return to his comedian roots, 'Norbit' fell 51% since it was on top of the chart, landing to number 3, with ticket sales of $16.8 million.

The romantic comedy 'Music & Lyrics', starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore that opened on Valentine's Day, remained at number four this weekend, grossing $14 million. That brings its total to $19.5 million. Another romantic comedy, Tyler Perry's 'Daddy's Little Girls' (also launched on Valentine's Day) took in another $12.1 million, bringing its ticket sales up to $17.8 million.

'Breach', the true story of an FBI agent did well over the studio's expectations, landing at number six. It was followed by another thriller, the story of Hannibal the Cannibal, the prequel 'Hannibal Rising', by the comedy 'Because I Said So', the horror 'The Messengers' and Ben Stiller's hit 'Night at the Museum'. Although there were no spectacular movies this weekend, all the newcomers had spectacular ticket sales.