The psychological thriller starring Leighton Meester as a deranged college freshman obsessed with her roommate Minka Kelly grossed $15.6 million in its three days, despite receiving poor reviews.
Survey aggregator Rotten Tomatoes said only nine percent of critics gave the film a thumbs-up.
Box office earnings were dented this weekend by the hugely popular Super Bowl American football championship game, due to take place later Sunday.
"Sanctum," which also got trashed by critics -- came in a distant second. The 3-D underwater cave adventure produced by James Cameron of "Avatar" fame secured $9.2 million in ticket receipts.
Dropping into third was "No Strings Attached," a romantic romp starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. The Ivan Reitman film about casual sex between friends took in $8.4 million.
British historical drama "The King's Speech" jumped up one notch to fourth after drawing 12 nominations from the Oscars race. It has earned $84.1 million so far in 11 weeks of showing.
Action movie "The Green Hornet" got fifth with $6.1 million, pulling ahead of Anthony Hopkins exorcism thriller "The Rite." The horror inspired by 1970s classic "The Exorcist" captured $5.6 million.
Dropping to seventh with $5.4 million was "The Mechanic," while the Western "True Grit" came in eighth with $4.8 million.
Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen's remake features Jeff Bridges in the John Wayne role as a drunken, hard-nosed US marshal. The film has earned $155 million in seven weeks.
Vince Vaughn's relationship comedy "The Dilemma," in its fourth week in theaters, slipped from seventh to ninth with $3.4 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was "Black Swan," a gritty ballet-themed thriller starring Natalie Portman which earned $3.4 million, for a 10-week total of $95.9 million.
The film was nominated for five Oscars, including best picture and best performance by an actress for Portman.
