“Taken” tops weekend box office

Movie audiences are taken with “Taken,“ according to the weekend box office numbers.
   
The CIA thriller starring Liam Neeson bumped off “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” at the nation’s theaters. “Taken” took in $24.6 million, helping fuel the first $1 billion January in Hollywood history.
   
“Taken” follows Neeson as a former CIA operative trying to track down a group of kidnappers who want to sell his daughter into the sex slave trade.
   
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop,“ the Kevin James comedy about a clumsy security guard, had been No. 1 the previous two weeks. Although it dropped to second place, it earned $14 million to boost its three-week total to more than $83 million.
   
Rounding out the top five: “The Uninvited,“ “Hotel for Dogs” and “Gran Torino.“