Lionsgate's "The Expendables" remained No. 1 for a second straight weekend with $16.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Directed by and starring Stallone, the action romp about mercenaries aiming to overthrow a dictator raised its total to $64.9 million.

Five new wide releases debuted to crowd the market, but none managed to pack in huge audiences and knock off "The Expendables."

"Given all that competition in the marketplace, I don't think there was any guarantee we would hold this strong, but we did," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

Leading the newcomers was 20th Century Fox's "Twilight" spoof "Vampires Suck" with $12.2 million, raising its total to $18.6 million since it opened Wednesday. The movie mocks the blockbuster franchise with a parody about a moody schoolgirl in a love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf.

"Vampires Suck" was in a photo finish for the No. 2 spot with another holdover, Julia Roberts' drama "Eat Pray Love." The Sony film about a divorced woman traveling the world in search of fulfillment pulled in $12 million to lift its total to $47.1 million.

The Warner Bros. comedy "Lottery Ticket," featuring rapper Bow Wow as a young man besieged by neighbors after he wins a $370 million jackpot, opened in fourth place with $11.1 million.

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's cop comedy "The Other Guys" held up well in its third weekend, with the Sony release taking in $10.1 million and boosting its total to $88.2 million.

"The Other Guys" was in a tossup for No. 5 with the Weinstein Co. horror remake "Piranha 3D," which opened with $10 million. Inspired by the low-budget 1978 "Piranha," the update is set at a lake where spring-break partiers are consumed by prehistoric man-eating fish.

Universal's sequel "Nanny McPhee Returns," with Emma Thompson back as the homely title character whipping a wartime family into shape, opened at No. 7 with $8.3 million. The first film, 2006's "Nanny McPhee," debuted in fewer theaters but managed to pull in $14.5 million over opening weekend.

Bringing up the rear among new wide releases at No. 8 was Jennifer Aniston's single-mom comedy "The Switch," which debuted with $8.1 million. The Disney release features Aniston as a woman whose drunken friend (Jason Bateman) switches her sperm specimen at a party to celebrate her artificial insemination.

Surprisingly, the overall box office was down only slightly compared with the same weekend last year, when "Inglourious Basterds" fired up the normally quiet late summer with a $38.1 million opening and "District 9" held up well with an $18.2 million second weekend.

Revenues this weekend came in at $125 million, down just 1.7 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"It was the collective strength of these five newcomers, plus the holdovers," said Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "Inglourious Basterds" and "District 9" were "so unusually strong for August that it should have made the comparison tough for this year. But the industry threw everything they had at the wall this weekend and tried to see what would stick."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Expendables," $16.5 million.

2. "Vampires Suck," $12.2 million.

3. "Eat Pray Love," $12 million.

4. "Lottery Ticket," $11.1 million.

5. "The Other Guys," $10.1 million.

6. "Piranha 3D," $10 million.

7. "Nanny McPhee Returns," $8.3 million.

8. "The Switch," $8.1 million.

9. "Inception," $7.7 million.

10. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," $5 million.

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Stallone and his pumped-up pals lifted Lionsgate's 1980s-style action romp "The Expendables" to a No. 1 debut with $35 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

While the macho "Expendables" lured male audiences, Julia Roberts delivered a crowd-pleaser for women with Sony's "Eat Pray Love," which opened at No. 2 with $23.7 million.

The previous weekend's top movie, Sony's cop comedy "The Other Guys," slipped to third place with $18 million, raising its 10-day total to $70.5 million. The Warner Bros. blockbuster "Inception" was fourth with $11.4 million, lifting its total to $248.6 million.

Opening in fifth place with $10.5 million was Universal's graphic-novel adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," starring Michael Cera as a slacker caught up in duels to the death with his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends.

"The Expendables" continued a box-office uptick for Stallone, who has had a career resurgence in recent years revisiting his past with fresh sequels to his "Rocky" and "Rambo" franchises.

The movie features such action stars as Jet Li and Jason Statham _ along with cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger _ in a tale of mercenaries aiming to overthrow a dictator.

It's a throwback to the brawn and body counts of 1980s and '90s action, a genre whose top three stars were Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger. The cast also includes such actors with 1980s roots as Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren and Roberts' brother, Eric Roberts, as well as wrestler Steve Austin, ultimate fighter Randy Couture and former NFL player Terry Crews.

"By combining all that star power, they really had a strong debut," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Maybe star power doesn't work with just one star, but when you throw in a dozen, it really looked fun. In the action world, these guys are big names."

Adapted from Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir, "Eat Pray Love" stars Julia Roberts as a woman traveling the world in search of enlightenment after her divorce.

Lionsgate deliberately chose this weekend to open "The Expendables" since it would be aiming for a different audience than "Eat Pray Love."

"We figured anybody going to see 'Eat Pray Love' would not want to see 'Expendables,' and vice versa," said David Spitz, head of distribution at Lionsgate.

Still, the hunky-men factor brought in a solid female crowd for "The Expendables," whose audience was 39 percent women, a bigger ratio than many male-driven action flicks.

Women made up 72 percent of the audience for "Eat Pray Love." Older women dominated the crowds, with 56 percent of the audience over 35.

"We definitely had the women and they definitely had the men," Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony, said of the split between "Eat Pray Love" and "The Expendables."

Sony is counting on a long shelf life for "Eat Pray Love" because of its appeal to women, who are less likely than males to rush out to see a movie over opening weekend.

"This is the type of picture that really will hang in there. I would be very surprised if the picture doesn't play right into the fall," Bruer said.

The year's biggest hit, "Toy Story 3," took in $2.2 million over the weekend to climb to $400.8 million domestically. The blockbuster from Disney's Pixar Animation became the 11th movie to top $400 million and only the second animated film to hit that mark, after "Shrek 2" at $436.7 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Expendables," $35 million.

2. "Eat Pray Love," $23.7 million.

3. "The Other Guys," $18 million.

4. "Inception," $11.4 million.

5. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," $10.5 million.

6. "Despicable Me," $6.8 million.

7. "Step Up 3D," $6.6 million.

8. "Salt," $6.4 million.

9. "Dinner for Schmucks," $6.3 million.

10. "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore," $4.1 million.

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Online:

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___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The buddy-cop parody starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg made $35.6 million in its opening weekend, according to Sunday estimates from Sony Pictures.

It's the second-highest debut for a film in which Ferrell has starred, and yet another strong showing for the movies he's made with his frequent collaborator, writer-director Adam McKay. Their biggest opening was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which debuted at No. 1 with $47 million in August 2006. "Step Brothers" made $30.9 million and came in second place when it opened in July 2008. And their first film together, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," opened in second place in July 2004 with $28.4 million.

"Inception," which had been the top film in the country the past three weeks, fell to No. 2 with $18.6 million. Christopher Nolan's mind-bending dream thriller from Warner Bros. has now made $227.7 million since its debut July 16.

Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution, said the studio had a good idea that "The Other Guys" would open at No. 1, but estimated it would make around $30 million. Ferrell plays a nerdy, uptight New York police detective who'd rather solve crimes from his desk than run into danger on the streets. Wahlberg is his hot-tempered, frustrated partner who's desperate for action, and the supporting cast includes Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.

"The tracking on the film has been really terrific _ just the buzz on the film, reviews are 80-percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes," Bruer said. "From all the screenings we had on the film, people just loved it and thought it was hilarious so we felt pretty good about it."

Ferrell-McKay productions have a solid track record, Bruer said, because "they're the ultimate funny."

"The chemistry between those two men in regards to comedy is at the top of their game," he said. "They bring out the best of each other."

The fact that "The Other Guys" and "Inception" are both so popular shows that audiences are hungry for a variety of ideas this time of year, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"How much different could these two films be? They both have action elements but that's where the comparison between these two films ends," he said. "That's the cool thing about summer movies: They can run the gamut from silly, off-the-wall comedies to serious, intense fare."

The other new movie opening nationwide this weekend, the dance sequel "Step Up 3-D" from Disney and Summit Entertainment, came in third place with $15.5 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Other Guys," $35.6 million.

2. "Inception," $18.6 million.

3. "Step Up 3-D," $15.5 million.

4. "Salt," $11.1 million.

5. "Dinner for Schmucks," $10.5 million.

6. "Despicable Me," $9.4 million.

7. "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore," $6.9 million.

8. "Charlie St. Cloud," $4.7 million.

9. "Toy Story 3," $3 million.

10."The Kids Are All Right," $2.6 million.

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Steve Carell's farce "Dinner For Schmucks" debuted in the No. 2 position with an appetizing $23.5 million, while Zac Efron's drama "Charlie St. Cloud" and the 3-D sequel "Cats & Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore," respectively opened in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots.

Angelina Jolie's spy caper "Salt" clung to No. 3 in its second weekend, and the animated film "Despicable Me," which also features Carell, maintained the No. 4 post in its fourth weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Inception," Warner Bros., $27,485,245, 3,545 locations, $7,753 average, $193,313,741, three weeks.

2. "Dinner For Schmucks," Paramount, $23,527,839, 2,911 locations, $8,082 average, $23,527,839, one week.

3. "Salt," Sony, $19,471,355, 3,612 locations, $5,391 average, $71,033,711, two weeks.

4. "Despicable Me," Universal, $15,524,230, 3,602 locations, $4,310 average, $190,330,425, four weeks.

5. "Charlie St. Cloud," Universal, $12,381,585, 2,718 locations, $4,555 average, $12,381,585, one week.

6. "Cats & Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore," Warner Bros., $12,279,363, 3,705 locations, $3,314 average, $12,279,363, one week.

7. "Toy Story 3," Disney, $5,122,907, 2,105 locations, $2,434 average, $389,761,491, seven weeks.

8. "Grown Ups," Sony, $4,548,144, 2,269 locations, $2,004 average, $150,761,385, six weeks.

9. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Disney, $4,465,524, 2,524 locations, $1,769 average, $52,026,528, three weeks.

10. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," Summit, $4,014,953, 2,334 locations, $1,720 average, $288,199,907, five weeks.

11. "Ramona and Beezus," Fox, $3,710,990, 2,719 locations, $1,365 average, $16,375,681, two weeks.

12. "The Kids Are All Right," Focus, $3,525,585, 847 locations, $4,162 average, $9,636,508, four weeks.

13. "The Last Airbender," Paramount, $1,815,170, 1,238 locations, $1,466 average, $127,293,447, five weeks.

14. "Predators," Fox, $1,093,290, 873 locations, $1,252 average, $49,491,249, four weeks.

15. "Knight and Day," Fox, $700,791, 831 locations, $843 average, $74,185,643, six weeks.

16. "The Karate Kid," Sony, $595,026, 461 locations, $1,291 average, $172,932,064, eight weeks.

17. "Shrek Forever After," Paramount, $574,024, 330 locations, $1,739 average, $235,646,952, 11 weeks.

18. "The Girl Who Played With Fire," Music Box, $542,670, 174 locations, $3,119 average, $3,770,754, four weeks.

19. "Winter's Bone," Roadside Attractions, $308,597, 139 locations, $2,220 average, $4,017,162, eight weeks.

20. "Iron Man 2," Paramount, $301,277, 286 locations, $1,053 average, $311,417,007, 13 weeks.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

"Inception" remained the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend with $43.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Warner Bros. thriller featuring DiCaprio as leader of a team that sneaks into people's dreams raised its 10-day total to $143.7 million.

Sony's spy caper "Salt" debuted a solid No. 2 with $36.5 million. The movie stars Jolie as a CIA operative who goes rogue after she's accused of being a Russian sleeper agent.

Coming in at No. 3 with $24.1 million was Steve Carell's family hit "Despicable Me." The animated comedy raised its domestic total to $161.7 million.

In a rare convergence of fresh ideas, the top three movies all were original stories, not sequels or adaptations of comic books, best-sellers, video games or other pre-existing material.

"Typically in summer, all we're seeing are rehashes and sequels and reboots, whatever you want to call them," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "To have original stories as the top-three films is a lesson to studios that maybe audiences are open to more originality in the summer and to perhaps not play it so safe, even though that goes against the grain of every fiber in every studio executive's being."

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's family comedy "Ramona and Beezus," took in $8 million to finish at No. 6. The movie is based on Beverly Cleary's children's books about a teenage girl and her accident-prone little sister.

"Inception" hung in strongly in its second weekend, its total down just 31 percent from its $62.8 million opening. During the busy summer, top hits often drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend and rarely repeat as the No. 1 movie.

The film will quickly shoot past the $200 million mark at the domestic box office and has a good shot at topping $300 million, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros.

Repeat business is accounting for a good share of "Inception" revenues as fans return to delve deeper into the labyrinthine story concocted by writer-director Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight").

"There's so much on the screen. It's so original and so smart that it raises questions that I think can be answered in different ways if you see the movie multiple times," Fellman said.

While young males usually make up the bulk of the action audience, women and older crowds were the core fans of Jolie's "Salt." Females accounted for 53 percent of viewers, while 59 percent of the audience was older than 25, according to Sony.

"What the movie really has going for it just a kick-ass performance by Angelina Jolie," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It just speaks well to the viability of our film for many weeks to come that you have such an incredible hold for 'Inception,' and we're still able to open our picture. We coexisted really nicely."

Overall revenues rose for the fourth-straight weekend as Hollywood continued to recover from a box-office swoon earlier in the summer. Receipts totaled $164 million, up 11 percent from the same weekend last year, when "G-Force" was No. 1 with $31.7 million.

Revenues this season are at $3 billion, about 3 percent ahead of the record pace of summer 2009. But accounting for higher ticket prices, movie attendance is down 3.4 percent compared to last summer's, according to Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Inception," $43.5 million.

2. "Salt," $36.5 million.

3. "Despicable Me," $24.1 million.

4. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," $9.7 million.

5. "Toy Story 3," $9 million.

6. "Ramona and Beezus," $8 million.

7. "Grown Ups," $7.6 million.

8. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," $7 million.

9. "The Last Airbender," $4.2 million.

10. "Predators," $2.9 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Warner Bros. action tale about a team that sneaks into people's dreams is DiCaprio's biggest opening weekend, topping his previous best of $41.1 million for last winter's "Shutter Island."

"Inception" falls far short of director Christopher Nolan's best, though. Nolan is the man who directed the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which opened over the same weekend two years ago with a record $158.4 million.

Warner Bros. has carved out a niche with this particular mid-July weekend. The studio followed "The Dark Knight" with a $77.8 million opening for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" over the same weekend last year.

"We like this spot. Not to sound superstitious, but stay away from this weekend. I own it," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

The final "Harry Potter" movie debuts on the same weekend next summer. Warner plans to open Nolan's third "Batman" movie over that weekend two years from now, though Fellman said the studio could move it to an earlier date that summer.

Strong reviews helped "Inception," which stars DiCaprio as leader of a team that normally breaks into people's dreams to steal their secrets but now has been hired to do the opposite _ plant an idea in a wealthy heir's subconscious.

Slipping to second place with $32.7 million was the previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Steve Carell's animated hit "Despicable Me." The Universal release raised its 10-day total to $118.4 million.

Disney's family adventure "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was a dud, opening at No. 3 with $17.4 million, lifting its total to $24.5 million since premiering Wednesday.

"It's disappointing to say the least," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which had high hopes for the movie. "I'm perplexed. I have no response, because I honestly don't know what went wrong."

The movie reunites the team behind the hit "National Treasure" movies _ Nicolas Cage, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub _ for an action comedy about an ancient wizard training an awkward apprentice (Jay Baruchel) to take down an evil sorceress in modern Manhattan.

Bruckheimer has been a blockbuster producer for Disney with such hits as "The Rock," "Armageddon" and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

But "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was the summer's second Disney-Bruckheimer production to come up short at the domestic box office, following "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," which was unable to crack the $100 million mark.

"Jerry's working on 'Pirates 4' as we speak," Viane said of the Johnny Depp sequel due out next summer. "I'll go to bat with Jerry any day, because his track record is pretty darn good."

With "Inception" and "Despicable Me," the weekend marked a rare instance when two original stories _ not sequels, spinoffs or adaptations of comic books, best-sellers or other properties _ led the box office.

Hollywood relies on familiar titles such as "Iron Man 2," "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "Toy Story 3" for most of its big summer releases, though the occasional fresh idea manages to score with audiences.

"We let all of the sequels and popcorn films come out and get the summer rolling, then we come in here with this original concept," Fellman said of "Inception." "We're in a good place to run now for the rest of the summer."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Inception," $60.4 million.

2. "Despicable Me," $32.7 million.

3. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," $17.4 million.

4. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," $13.5 million.

5. "Toy Story 3," $11.7 million.

6. "Grown Ups," $10 million.

7. "The Last Airbender," $7.5 million.

8. "Predators," $6.8 million.

9. "Knight and Day," $3.7 million.

10. "The Karate Kid," $2.2 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The first 3-D animated movie from Universal Pictures stars Steve Carell as the voice of Gru, a bumbling villain with plans to steal the moon _ until three adorable orphan girls enter his life. Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews are among the star-studded voice cast.

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, said Sunday that "Despicable Me" far exceeded the studio's expectations for opening weekend.

"Thirty (million) would have been a win for the studio _ because it's a new creative idea, we really didn't know what we had, so we backed in saying $30 (million)," said Rocco. "I would never have said $50 million-plus."

Rocco believes a number of factors worked in the movie's favor, including jokes for the kids and more grown-up humor and a warmhearted story for adults. But the tiny, yellow Minions _ quirky, pill-shaped creatures who spout gibberish and help Gru carry out his dastardly plans _ were appealing to both, and were a huge part of the film's marketing campaign.

The week's other new wide release, "Predators," grossed $25.3 million to open at No. 3. A sequel of sorts to the 1987 sci-fi cult classic "Predator," the 20th Century Fox film stars Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne as mercenaries being stalked by alien hunters in the jungle.

Robert Rodriguez ("Planet Terror," the "Spy Kids" movies) wrote an early version of the script in the 1990s, produced the film at his Texas compound and his name appears high on the credits _ an association that proved fruitful, said Bert Livingston, a 20th Century Fox distribution executive

"People wanted to see the film because Robert Rodriguez was attached to it, and he's the best at what he does, and we got our audience," Livingston said. "It was 70-percent male and they liked the film."

Meanwhile, last week's juggernaut, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," fell to second place with $33.35 million. The third film in the wildly popular vampire franchise has now made $237 million in its first 12 days. It's expected to surpass part two, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which grossed $296.6 million when it came out last year.

"'Twilight' dropped less than 50 percent _ that's impressive to me," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's a really strong hold for a movie that, in its first day, made $68 million."

It's been a strong series of weeks at the box office, especially after a rough start to the summer with movies such as "Shrek Forever After" and "Sex and the City 2" not opening to expectations. Next weekend brings "Inception," Christopher Nolan's hugely anticipated first film since the blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which opened on the same weekend two years ago.

"You can't underestimate the importance of momentum in the marketplace," Dergarabedian said. "'The Karate Kid,' 'Toy Story 3,' 'Eclipse' and now 'Despicable Me' _ we're on a roll and it feels more like the beginning of the summer than the middle of the summer."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Despicable Me," $60.1 million.

2. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," $33.35 million.

3. "Predators," $25.3 million.

4. "Toy Story 3," $22 million.

5. "The Last Airbender," $17.15 million.

6. "Grown Ups," $16.4 million.

7. "Knight and Day," $7.85 million.

8. "The Karate Kid," $5.7 million.

9. "The A-Team," $1.8 million.

10. "Cyrus," $1.4 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Disney-Pixar Animation smash "Toy Story 3" remained the No. 1 film with $59 million in its second weekend, raising its domestic total to $226.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Sandler's "Grown Ups" debuted at No. 2 with a healthy $41 million. Released by Sony, the comedy costarring Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider did well despite a thrashing from critics.

Cruise's thriller "Knight and Day" fizzled at No. 3 with $20.5 million. It was the worst result for a Cruise action flick in 20 years and a sign that audiences still have not forgiven him for erratic behavior a few years back, which included his couch-jumping incident on Oprah Winfrey's show.

"He's one of the biggest stars of all time, but no question, this has impacted him," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's not like it's irrevocable or unchangeable. Look at all the stars who have been jailed or caught in compromising sexual situations and then came back. Many stars do recover. It just may take a lot of time for him."

Reviews were fair for "Knight and Day," which features Cruise as a charming spy who finds romance with a civilian (Cameron Diaz) on a globe-trotting adventure. Yet distributor 20th Century Fox could not pull in a big audience despite a heavy marketing push that included sneak-peak screenings a week earlier and a Wednesday debut designed to build fan buzz for opening weekend.

Since Wednesday, "Knight and Day" has taken in $27.8 million. It added $12.6 million in 12 overseas markets, but the movie has a long road ahead to recoup a production budget of around $107 million.

Playing in 4,028 theaters, "Toy Story 3" maintained a strong average of $14,647 a cinema. That compared to an average of $11,602 in 3,534 theaters for "Grown Ups" and $6,617 in 3,098 cinemas for "Knight and Day."

Even so, Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, said the studio was happy with the results.

"I do think with the excellent reviews we've caught along with its playability, that it's going to be the movie of choice for smart audiences and will be for a while," Aronson said.

At the height of the Cruise backlash four years ago _ sparked by odd behavior including rants about Scientology and his couch-bouncing proclamation of devotion to Katie Holmes _ his "Mission: Impossible III" debuted with $47.7 million, well over twice the take for "Knight and Day." Granted, the latter is a harder sell compared to an established action franchise.

Even Cruise's Nazi Germany drama "Valkyrie," which arrived with modest expectations two years ago, did better with $21 million in its first weekend.

"Knight and Day" had Cruise's lowest action debut since the 1990 race-car thriller "Days of Thunder," which pulled in $15.5 million while playing in 800 fewer theaters. Factoring in higher ticket prices, "Days of Thunder" would have debuted with about $29 million in today's dollars.

After just 10 days in theaters, "Toy Story 3" is about to hurtle beyond "Shrek Forever After," now at $229.3 million after five weeks in theaters, to become the year's top-grossing animated movie.

Though $300 million blockbusters "Iron Man 2" and "Alice in Wonderland" had bigger opening weekends, "Toy Story 3" now is outpacing both and could be on track to become the year's biggest hit.

"Though I would never try to call that prematurely, it certainly is the kind of movie that plays so well that you would expect the legs to put it into a pretty lofty position," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "The storytelling is so superb that I think it's going to play forever."

"Toy Story 3" has added $100 million in 32 overseas countries to raise its worldwide total to $326.6 million. The film has yet to open in many major markets, including most of Europe.

While Cruise once was one of Hollywood's most-dependable draws, Sandler remains a steadfast box-office earner. "Grown Ups" was his 10th film to open in a consistent range from about $34 million to $48 million, dating to 1998's "The Waterboy."

"Grown Ups" features Sandler and his pals as boyhood friends reuniting as adults for the funeral of their old basketball coach.

Critics usually hate Sandler's movies, while fans keep turning up.

"They realize that they're the final judge, and they've chosen Adam over and over," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "They know what they want to see."

Overall business was down again as Hollywood lapsed back into a box office slide that persisted from May into early June. Revenues totaled $160 million, down 20 percent from a huge weekend last year, when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" debuted with $109 million.

Summer revenues are at $1.7 billion, down 5 percent from the record pace of 2009, while attendance is off nearly 11 percent, according to Hollywood.com.

Business should rebound as "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" opens Wednesday for the Fourth of July weekend, one of the year's busiest times at theaters.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Toy Story 3," $59 million.

2. "Grown Ups," $41 million.

3. "Knight and Day," $20.5 million.

4. "The Karate Kid," $15.4 million.

5. "The A-Team," $6 million.

6. "Get Him to the Greek," $3 million.

7. "Shrek Forever After," $2.9 million.

8. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," $2.8 million.

9. "Killers," $2 million.

10. "Jonah Hex," $1.6 million.

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Online:

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The remake of the 1984 hit led the weekend with a $55.7 million debut, more than double the $25.7 million opening of another 1980s update, the big-screen take on the TV show "The A-Team."

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Karate Kid," Sony, $55,665,805, 3,663 locations, $15,197 average, $55,665,805, one week.

2. "The A-Team," Fox, $25,669,455, 3,534 locations, $7,264 average, $25,669,455, one week.

3. "Shrek Forever After," Paramount, $15,770,491, 3,868 locations, $4,077 average, $210,022,557, four weeks.

4. "Get Him to the Greek," Universal, $9,942,405, 2,702 locations, $3,680 average, $36,400,720, two weeks.

5. "Killers," Lionsgate, $8,008,007, 2,859 locations, $2,801 average, $30,261,624, two weeks.

6. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Disney, $6,486,150, 3,108 locations, $2,087 average, $72,228,302, three weeks.

7. "Marmaduke," Fox, $6,006,704, 3,213 locations, $1,870 average, $22,285,540, two weeks.

8. "Sex and the City 2," Warner Bros., $5,438,345, 2,750 locations, $1,978 average, $84,658,826, three weeks.

9. "Iron Man 2," Paramount, $4,521,206, 2,305 locations, $1,961 average, $299,282,390, six weeks.

10. "Splice," Warner Bros., $2,942,492, 2,450 locations, $1,201 average, $13,153,956, two weeks.

11. "Robin Hood," Universal, $2,615,130, 1,895 locations, $1,380 average, $99,463,670, five weeks.

12. "Letters to Juliet," Summit, $1,693,941, 1,331 locations, $1,273 average, $46,754,242, five weeks.

13. "Date Night," Fox, $601,291, 430 locations, $1,398 average, $96,266,718, 10 weeks.

14. "Solitary Man," Anchor Bay Films, $369,703, 53 locations, $6,976 average, $871,081, four weeks.

15. "The Bounty Hunter," Sony, $351,716, 236 locations, $1,490 average, $66,418,931, 13 weeks.

16. "The Secret in Their Eyes," Sony Pictures Classics, $347,925, 162 locations, $2,148 average, $4,506,655, nine weeks.

17. "How to Train Your Dragon," Paramount, $330,459, 281 locations, $1,176 average, $214,426,381, 12 weeks.

18. "Clash of the Titans," Warner Bros., $329,183, 333 locations, $989 average, $161,958,303, 11 weeks.

19. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Music Box Films, $323,915, 174 locations, $1,862 average, $7,871,852, 13 weeks.

20. "Just Wright," Fox Searchlight, $320,441, 279 locations, $1,149 average, $20,795,571, five weeks.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek Forever After" remained the No. 1 movie for a third-straight weekend with $25.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. It raised its three-week domestic total to $183 million.

"It appears that the family audience is dominating the box office right now, and families clearly want to see `Shrek,'" said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

The overall box office tumbled, coming in at $125 million, down 24 percent compared to the same weekend last year, when "The Hangover" opened with $45 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The best of the newcomers was Universal's rock 'n' roll comedy "Get Him to the Greek," which debuted at No. 2 with $17.4 million. The movie stars Jonah Hill as a record executive escorting an unruly rocker (Russell Brand) from London to Los Angeles for a concert.

Opening at No. 3 with $16.1 million was Lionsgate's action comedy "Killers," starring Katherine Heigl as a woman who marries her dream man (Ashton Kutcher) only to learn he's an international assassin.

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, said the studio is happy with the results for "Get Him to the Greek" but that slumping revenues for Hollywood in general are a concern.

"Everybody is talking to me about that, and I don't have an answer," Rocco said.

The weekend after Memorial Day a year ago, the blockbuster "Up" premiered with $68.1 million. That was more than the combined $52.3 million total for "Get Him to the Greek," "Killers" and anemic openings for this weekend's two other new wide releases _ 20th Century Fox's family comedy "Marmaduke" at $11.3 million and the Warner Bros. horror tale "Splice" at $7.5 million.

"The films a year ago were generating a ton of excitement, and this year's just kind of falling flat. You had four new wide releases, and a three-week-old movie is still No. 1," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "I don't know if they're bored or if ticket prices are too high or if they just have other things to do."

The quiet weekend follows a sluggish May that ended with the slowest Memorial Day holiday in 17 years in terms of movie attendance. Two big Memorial Day weekend releases, the Warner Bros. sequel "Sex and the City 2" and Disney's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," failed to light up the box office, and both fell off sharply in their second weekends.

"Prince of Persia" was No. 4 with $13.9 million, down 54 percent from opening weekend and raising its domestic total to $59.5 million. "Sex and the City 2" finished at No. 5 with $12.7 million, down 59 percent and lifting its haul to $73.4 million.

For the year, Hollywood revenues are at $4.47 billion, up 3.7 percent over the record pace last year. But factoring in higher ticket prices, attendance now has slipped 2.7 percent behind last year's, according to Hollywood.com.

The box office can turn on a dime, though, so Hollywood could regain its momentum with just a few big hits.

"I'm still confident when you take a look at some of the films coming up in the summer, that audiences will start coming out in droves," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "There's a lot of big titles, including next weekend."

This Friday brings a 1980s flashback with a remake of "The Karate Kid" starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, the son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and a big-screen adaptation of the TV action series "The A-Team," featuring Liam Neeson, Jessica Biel and "The Hangover" co-star Bradley Cooper.

Still to come are "Toy Story 3," reuniting voice stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen; Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's action comedy "Knight and Day"; "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the third installment in the vampire-romance franchise; and Leonardo DiCaprio's science-fiction thriller "Inception," from "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Shrek Forever After," $25.3 million.

2. "Get Him to the Greek," $17.4 million.

3. "Killers," $16.1 million.

4. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," $13.9 million.

5. "Sex and the City 2," $12.7 million.

6. "Marmaduke," $11.3 million.

7. "Iron Man 2," $7.8 million.

8. "Splice," $7.5 million.

9. "Robin Hood," $5.1 million.

10. "Letters to Juliet," $3 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

With $55.7 million over the long Memorial Day holiday, DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek Forever After" was No. 1 for a second-straight weekend. The movie raised its 10-day domestic total to $145.5 million.

"To be so decisively No. 1 in the face of these other two big movies is pretty thrilling," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

Many in Hollywood thought "Sex and the City 2" would debut at No. 1. But the Warner Bros. release may have to settle for third-place.

Based on studio estimates Monday for the four-day weekend, Disney's "Prince of Persia" debuted at No. 2 with $37.8 million, slightly ahead of the $37.1 million for "Sex and the City 2."

The two movies were close enough that second- and third-place rankings could change once final numbers are released Tuesday.

"Sex and the City 2," which reunites Sarah Jessica Parker and her fashionable co-stars from the HBO series, would have put up bigger weekend numbers, but Warner Bros. decided to give the movie a head-start by opening it Thursday, a day ahead of most new releases.

The movie took in $14.2 million on Thursday, leaving it with $51.4 million after its first five days. The original "Sex and the City" movie took in $56.8 million in its first three days in 2008.

"We obviously siphoned off some of our weekend by going a day early," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros.

Based on the video game, "Prince of Persia" stars Jake Gyllenhaal in an action adventure set in ancient times.

Box-office analysts had expected it to finish the weekend behind "Shrek Forever After" and "Sex and the City 2." While "Prince of Persia" trailed those movies for most of the weekend, it held up well enough Monday to slide into the No. 2 spot.

"Our surprise strength through the weekend and coming in second rather than the predicted third was a nice plus," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

Like "Sex and the City 2," the fourth "Shrek" movie is trailing its predecessors, opening well behind the $100-million-dollar plus debut weekends for the second and third sequels.

The difference grows wider considering "Shrek Forever After" benefits from premium 3-D ticket prices, which cost a few dollars more than 2-D admissions. The 3-D screenings account for 61 percent of the movie's revenue, while the previous "Shrek" movies did their business in 2-D format.

With a $20.6 million weekend and a domestic total of $279.2 million, Paramount's "Iron Man 2" is outpacing its predecessor. But Hollywood's overall business is starting to lag compared to last year's record summer revenues.

Ticket sales for Friday to Monday came in at about $187 million, down nearly 16 percent compared to Memorial Day weekend in 2009, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Receipts since the summer season began in early May are at $811.5 million, down just a fraction from where revenues were at a year ago. Factoring in higher ticket prices, though, admissions so far this summer are down 6.6 percent compared to last year's, according to Hollywood.com.

"The audience is not absolutely thrilled with the movies in the marketplace, and they're voting with their absence now," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst at Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Shrek Forever After," $55.7 million.

2. "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," $37.8 million.

3. "Sex and the City 2," $37.1 million.

4. "Iron Man 2," $20.6 million.

5. "Robin Hood," $13.6 million.

6. "Letters to Juliet," $7.3 million.

7. "Just Wright," $2.7 million.

8. "Date Night," $2.3 million.

9. "MacGruber," $1.9 million.

10. "How to Train Your Dragon," $1.5 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

But the fourth film in the monster franchise from DreamWorks Animation had the weakest debut of all "Shrek" sequels, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Shrek 2," from 2004, opened with $108 million. "Shrek the Third," from 2007, made $121.6 million in its first weekend.

And the latest installment was available for the first time in 3-D and IMAX 3-D, where ticket prices are higher _ up to $19 in Manhattan. "Shrek" made just under $5 million on IMAX screens, or 7 percent of the film's weekend gross.

This time, Shrek _ voiced as always by Mike Myers _ is experiencing a mid-life crisis, so he makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to live as a fearsome ogre again for one day. Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas return to the voice cast.

"We're obviously happy to be the No. 1 movie, which we anticipated," said Anne Globe, head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

"It's a little lower than we anticipated but it's still No. 4 among all animated openings of all time, behind the first two `Shrek' sequels and `The Simpsons (Movie),'" which opened with $74 million in 2007.

In explaining the comparatively smaller debut for "Shrek Forever After," Globe said: "Part of it is the high bar the `Shrek' franchise has set for itself. With the fourth film, we're kind of in uncharted territory _ there's never been a fourth in (an animated) series _ and it's not where you start, it's where you finish."

Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, said the cost of tickets may have been too high for some families.

"I think it's a very pragmatic situation. Families want to see `Shrek,' it's the summer, and right now for kids there's not a whole lot out there so it's kind of a no-brainer," he said. "Then people look in their pocketbooks and go, `Whoa.'"

Having said that, Dergarabedian said he expects "Shrek Forever After" will have legs throughout the summer, similar to another recent 3-D movie from DreamWorks Animation, "How to Train Your Dragon." It opened in March with $43.7 million and has gone on to make nearly $211 million.

Last week's No. 1 movie, "Iron Man 2," dropped to second place with $26.6 million. The superhero sequel from Paramount Pictures has now made over $251 million in three weeks.

The other new wide release, "MacGruber," opened in sixth place with a disappointing $4.1 million. Based on the "Saturday Night Live" sketch, the Universal Pictures comedy stars Will Forte as a bumbling version of the mulleted '80s television character "MacGyver," who was famous for his makeshift method of defusing threats.

But "MacGruber" was a relatively low-risk production because it cost under $10 million to make, which was offset by tax credits and foreign sales, said Geoffrey Ammer, head of worldwide marketing for Relativity Media, which produced the film.

"The honest answer is, it never expanded beyond its `SNL' audience," Ammer said. "We took the picture to (the) South by Southwest (film festival), it got a great response, we took a shot with the picture and we were disappointed but by no means were we at risk at any point."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. "Shrek Forever After," $71.3 million.

2. "Iron Man 2," $26.6 million.

3. "Robin Hood," $18.7 million.

4. "Letters to Juliet," $9.1 million.

5. "Just Wright," $4.2 million.

6. "MacGruber," $4.1 million.

7. "Date Night," $2.8 million.

8. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $2.3 million.

9. "How to Train Your Dragon," $1.9 million.

10. "Kites," $1 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

"Iron Man 2," the sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. as Marvel's gadget-happy billionaire superhero, earned $133.6 million domestically on its opening weekend, according to distributor Paramount Pictures' estimates Sunday. The opening rocketed past the original $98.6 million debut in 2008 and landed the record as the fifth-biggest opening weekend.

"We're thrilled with the combination of the way it's playing across the board," said Don Harris, Paramount's vice president of distribution. "It's playing as a fanboy movie, but it's also playing as family movie, too. I even know a bunch of people who are planning to take their mothers to see 'Iron Man 2' on Mother's Day, which really made me chuckle."

"Iron Man 2" has taken in $194 million overseas since it debuted in many international markets last week, bringing its worldwide total to over $327 million. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts. The biggest opening came from China with $7.3 million.

"It's a perfect kickoff to the summer of 2010," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It literally sets the tone for the entire summer movie season. To have the fifth biggest opening week of all time certainly sends a message that this summer season is going to make its mark. Audiences really do get caught up in that."

The victory of "Iron Man 2," which is only available in 2-D, comes at time when 3-D films like "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" have recently dominated the box office. IMAX chairman and president Greg Foster said the $10.2 million earned by "Iron Man 2" from IMAX theaters set IMAX's 2-D record, beating out the $8.5 million debut of "Star Trek" last year.

"I think people recognize IMAX is the way to see blockbuster titles, whether it's a 2-D or 3-D movie," he said.

The film continues the story of Stark, a genius industrialist who builds metal suits loaded with gadgets. In the follow-up, the superhero employs the assistance of his longtime friend and fellow crime fighter James Rhodes, played by Don Cheadle, to battle baddies such as Whiplash, a nasty villain with his own high-tech arsenal, played by Mickey Rourke.

"When we opened the original 'Iron Man,' it seemed to be one of the lesser known properties in the Marvel galaxy," said Paramount's Harris. "Two years later, it's one of the most beloved characters. I think the people at Marvel are incredibly bullish about how future 'Iron Man' movies might do and how 'Iron Man' interacts with their other characters."

Despite the triumph over its predecessor, "Iron Man 2" didn't best the $158.4 million bow of "The Dark Knight" in 2008 or the $151.1 million debut of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. It also didn't surpass last year's $142.8 million dawn of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" or the $135.6 million course charted by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006.

"Iron Man 2" was untouchable at this weekend's box office though. The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," fell to No. 2 with $9.1 million, clawing to a total of $48.5 million. DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" remained at No. 3 with $6.7 million, bringing its seven-week total to $201 million.

"Babies," the Focus Features documentary that tracks four tots during the first year of their lives, was the only other new release, debuting in 534 theaters at the No. 10 spot with $1.5 million. Hollywood.com's Dergarabedian said "Babies" could continue to crawl along this summer as an alternative to flicks like "Robin Hood" and "Prince of Persia."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. "Iron Man 2," $133.6 million.

2. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $9.1 million.

3. "How to Train Your Dragon," $6.7 million.

4. "Date Night," $5.3 million.

5. "The Back-up Plan," $4.3 million.

6. "Furry Vengeance," $4 million.

7. "Clash of the Titans," $2.3 million.

8. "Death at a Funeral," $2.1 million.

9. "The Losers," $1.8 million.

10. "Babies," $1.5 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

A remake of the slasher flick "A Nightmare on Elm Street" led the weekend with a $32.2 million debut domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. Released by the Warner Bros. banner New Line, the movie features Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger, a psycho killer who stalks and slays victims in their dreams.

Paramount's "Iron Man 2" got an international head start on its domestic debut this Friday, pulling in $100.2 million in 53 foreign markets. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts.

"Iron Man 2" brought in $12.2 million in Great Britain, $10.8 million in South Korea, $8.8 million in Australia and $8.2 million in France. According to Paramount, the sequel had bigger openings than 2008's "Iron Man" in every market.

"Iron Man 2" continues the story of Downey's billionaire superhero, a genius who builds himself a metal suit loaded with gadgets. Mickey Rourke co-stars as a new enemy with his own high-tech arsenal.

Fright films typically drop steeply in their second weekends, since hardcore horror fans rush out to see them in the first few days. But "A Nightmare on Elm Street" already is headed toward a solid profit after an opening weekend that roughly matched its modest production budget of just over $30 million.

Given the history of slasher sagas _ the original 1984 "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was followed by seven sequels _ the franchise likely has a long life ahead of it.

"It's certainly something we would entertain, the same with 'Friday the 13th,'" another New Line horror series that was revived last year and has a sequel in the works, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros.

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" was unable to match the fresh start of "Friday the 13th," whose remake had a $40 million opening weekend in February 2009.

This weekend's other new wide release, Brendan Fraser's family comedy "Furry Vengeance," bombed with just $6.5 million. The Summit Entertainment release stars Fraser as a housing developer assailed by the cute woodland creatures whose habitat is threatened by construction.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, DreamWorks Animation's hit "How to Train Your Dragon," slipped to second place with $10.8 million, raising its total to $192.4 million.

While "A Nightmare on Elm Street" opened well, overall business was modest, continuing a lull as theaters prepare for the summer season, Hollywood's busiest time.

With "Iron Man 2," new potential blockbusters will start arriving virtually every weekend through August. Downey's "Iron Man" premiered domestically with a whopping $98.6 million weekend, ranking No. 15 on the chart for best debuts.

"What 'Nightmare on Elm Street' did is bridge the gap between the middling last part of spring leading into the summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "'Iron Man 2,' I'm prepared to say, is going to be one of the biggest openings of all time. Interest is huge."

In limited release, Sony Pictures Classics' "Please Give" opened strongly with $128,696 in five theaters, averaging a healthy $25,739 a cinema. That compares with an average of $9,665 in 3,332 theaters for "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Please Give" stars Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt as a Manhattan couple who buy an elderly neighbor's adjoining apartment _ with the stipulation that the old woman can live out her life there before the buyers can do any expanding and remodeling.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $32.2 million.

2. "How to Train Your Dragon," $10.8 million.

3. "Date Night," $7.6 million.

4. "The Back-up Plan," $7.2 million.

5. "Furry Vengeance," $6.5 million.

6. "The Losers," $6 million.

7. "Clash of the Titans," $5.98 million.

8. "Kick-ass," $4.5 million.

9. "Death at a Funeral," $4 million.

10. "Oceans," $2.6 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

"When We Leave," which stars Sibel Kekilli as a mother who flees her abusive husband by moving with her 5-year-old son from Istanbul to Berlin, won best narrative feature. Kekilli also won best actress.

The jury that decided the category, which included actors Hope Davis and Aaron Eckhart, said in a statement that "When We Leave" "examines one woman's struggle for personal freedom. It's a theme that is often explored _ but rarely told with such humanity, subtlety, craftsmanship or immediacy."

"Monica & David," which won best documentary, chronicles the love between two people with Down syndrome. It was directed by Alexandra Codina, Monica's cousin.

Best actor in a narrative feature film went to Eric Elmosnino, who plays the French musician Serge Gainsbourg in "Gainsbourg, Je t'Aime ... Moi Non Plus."

The festival also singled out two new filmmakers: Kim Chapiron, the director of the youth correctional facility drama "Dog Pound," and Clio Barnard, the director of the British documentary-fiction hybrid "The Arbor."

Jane Rosenthal, who co-founded the festival with Robert De Niro and her husband, entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff, said: "The award-winning films selected by the jury each features strong characters and subjects; these films challenge you to see the world from another perspective."

The awards were handed out Thursday evening at a ceremony in New York. Tribeca, which finishes Sunday, will screen "Freakonomics" on Friday evening as its closing film.

The DreamWorks Animation adventure took in $15 million to reclaim the No. 1 spot in its fifth weekend of release. "How to Train Your Dragon" opened in first place in late March, then dropped back into the pack. But it has held up strongly and climbed to the top again amid a flurry of so-so new releases.

The tale of a Viking youth and his pet dragon raised its total to $178 million and is on its way to becoming a $200 million hit.

Premiering weakly at No. 2 with $12.3 million was Jennifer Lopez's romantic comedy "The Back-up Plan," released by CBS Films. Another comedy, Steve Carell and Tina Fey's "Date Night" from 20th Century Fox, held up well to finish at No. 3 with $10.6 million, raising its total to $63.5 million.

Among the weekend's other newcomers, the Warner Bros. action flick "The Losers" flopped at No. 4 with $9.6 million. Disney's nature film "Oceans" had a solid opening for a documentary, coming in at No. 8 with $6 million.

"How to Train Your Dragon" nearly regained the No. 1 spot the previous weekend but wound up a close second to Lionsgate's superhero comedy "Kick-Ass." In its second weekend, "Kick-Ass" slumped to No. 5 with $9.5 million, down 52 percent from its debut, lifting its total to $34.9 million.

Revenues for "How to Train Your Dragon" were off a scant 23 percent from the previous weekend.

"To be No. 1 in week five, it's an exciting time," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation. "Especially to be decisively No. 1 after last weekend's box-office shenanigans."

The box office had ended in rare photo finishes for two straight weekends as movies bunched up tightly in the rankings. Though "How to Train Your Dragon" was the clear winner this time, top movies again were crowded closely together as the weekend's newcomers failed to grab much attention.

Overall Hollywood revenues should top out at about $100 million, the lowest-grossing weekend of the year, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Fans may simply be watching their finances amid the slow economic recovery, saving their money for the onslaught of summer blockbusters that starts May 7 with "Iron Man 2."

"They may be saying, 'I want to see big summer movies, so I'm just going to wait,'" Dergarabedian said. "Then suddenly, we're going to have this massive weekend when 'Iron Man 2' opens after we've had these mediocre weekends."

While "The Back-up Plan" opened weakly, CBS Films was hoping it would hold up well in subsequent weekends, as romantic comedies often do.

"Jennifer Lopez's films have great legs, as does she," said Steven Friedlander, head of distribution for CBS Films.

"The Back-up Plan" stars Lopez as a single woman who gets pregnant through artificial insemination, then meets the man of her dreams.

"The Losers," whose cast includes "Avatar" co-star Zoe Saldana, is a comic-book adaptation about a Special Forces team looking for payback after a mission goes bad.

Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, "Oceans" offers up-close glimpses of blue whales, walruses, sea turtles, spider crabs and other aquatic life. Since opening on Earth Day Thursday, "Oceans" has taken in $8.5 million.

"Oceans" played in narrower release than other new movies, averaging $4,975 in 1,206 theaters, a fair result for a documentary. By comparison, "The Back-up Plan" averaged $3,735 in 3,280 theaters and "The Losers" averaged $3,271 in 2,936 cinemas.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "How to Train Your Dragon," $15 million.

2. "The Back-up Plan," $12.3 million.

3. "Date Night," $10.6 million.

4. "The Losers," $9.6 million.

5. "Kick-Ass," $9.5 million.

6. "Clash of the Titans," $9 million.

7. "Death at a Funeral," $8 million.

8. "Oceans," $6 million.

9. "The Last Song," $3.7 million.

10. "Alice in Wonderland," $2.2 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

No. 1 bragging rights for the weekend were too close to call Sunday, with 20th Century Fox estimating a $27.1 million debut for Carell and Fey's comedy "Date Night" and Warner Bros. reporting the action tale "Clash of the Titans" at $26.9 million.

Rankings will be sorted out Monday when studios release final numbers, which can vary by $1 million or more for some films compared with Sunday estimates.

Warner executives said they tracked "Clash of the Titans" as No. 1 for a second straight weekend, with "Date Night" trailing by about $1 million.

"I'm not complaining about it," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner. "They're certainly entitled to their own projection, and we'll see. Maybe they're right and we're wrong. Monday will tell."

Photo finishes are rare for the No. 1 spot at the box office, where one movie usually is the clear winner.

Weekend projections include fairly hard figures for Friday and Saturday but estimates for how much a movie will take in on Sunday. Studios base those estimates on such factors as how similar movies performed in past weekends.

Studios sometimes grumble that competitors inflate their Sunday numbers to make a debut look stronger.

"You can't do that," said Bert Livingston, a 20th Century Fox distribution executive. "What you do is you look up history, you come up with your best-guess scenario. The number is the number. Whatever it is, if it ends up being No. 1 or 5 or 6, we just estimate our numbers."

Winning the top spot at the box office is a valuable marketing edge, allowing a studio to proclaim its release as the No. 1 movie in advertising through the following weekend.

Even if rankings change on Monday, it's often the Sunday figures that linger in the minds of movie fans, who may not bother to check out the final numbers a day later.

"That's why everyone wants to be No. 1 on Sunday, because with the Internet, by Monday, it's kind of old news," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"Date Night" casts Carell and Fey as a married couple whose attempt to spice up their romantic life leads to misadventure after thugs mistake them for blackmailers.

"Clash of the Titans" features Sam Worthington as a warrior caught in a battle between men and the gods in ancient Greece. The movie raised its 10-day total to $110.5 million.

Running a close No. 3 was DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon," which took in $25.4 million, lifting its 17-day total to $133.9 million.

In narrower release, Vivendi Entertainment's inspirational drama "Letters to God" opened at No. 10 with $1.3 million. The movie centers on a boy who writes letters to God to help cope with his fight against cancer.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Date Night," $27.1 million.

2. "Clash of the Titans," $26.9 million.

3. "How to Train Your Dragon," $25.4 million.

4. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?", $11 million.

5. "The Last Song," $10 million.

6. "Alice in Wonderland," $5.6 million.

7. "Hot Tub Time Machine," $5.4 million.

8. "The Bounty Hunter," $4.3 million.

9. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $4.1 million.

10. "Letters to God," $1.3 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The ancient Greek action remake "Clash of the Titans" debuted at No. 1 with $61.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Adding Thursday night preview screenings, the movie totaled $64.1 million.

Released by Warner Bros., "Clash of the Titans" features "Avatar" star Sam Worthington as demigod hero Perseus and Liam Neeson as his dad, Zeus, king of the Olympian deities.

Opening at No. 2 with $30.2 million was Lionsgate's sequel "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?", reuniting filmmaker Perry with Janet Jackson and other co-stars for another comic drama about eight friends and their relationships.

The previous weekend's top movie, DreamWorks Animation's Viking adventure "How to Train Your Dragon," ran a close third with $29.2 million, raising its 10-day total to $92.3 million.

Miley Cyrus' teen drama "The Last Song" premiered at No. 4 with $16.2 million. The Disney release raised its total to $25.6 million since opening Wednesday. Written by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks specifically for the "Hannah Montana" star, the movie casts Cyrus as a sullen teen spending the summer with her estranged father.

"Clash of the Titans" continued Hollywood's hit run of 3-D movies, which has included "How to Train Your Dragon" and the blockbusters "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland."

With $8.3 million, Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" came in at No. 5 for the weekend, raising its domestic total to $309.8 million and its worldwide haul to $722 million.

"If three out of the top five films doesn't spell a mandate for 3-D, I don't know what does," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Like "Alice in Wonderland," "Clash of the Titans" was shot in 2-D format and converted to 3-D afterward. Critics gripe that such conversions provide lower-quality 3-D images, but audiences do not seem to mind.

"You can't tell the difference. A super-technician, somebody who does this for a living, if they look carefully enough, they can find some differences," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. "I have to tell you, from my own personal experiences, I can't tell."

"Clash of the Titans" played on about 6,500 screens at 3,777 theaters, with 1,810 of those screens _ or 28 percent _ showing it in 3-D. Yet the movie did 52 percent of its business in 3-D format, with fans paying a few dollars more than 2-D tickets cost.

"Why Did I Get Married Too" was Perry's second-biggest debut, behind last year's "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" with $41 million. Lionsgate, which has distributed all nine of Perry's movies, had thought his latest might come in around $25 million for the weekend.

"Every time we do one of his movies, I wake up on Saturday and think, why do I always underestimate him?" said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "He's unbelievable. He knows his audience."

Cyrus' "The Last Song" had modest results compared with the last Sparks love story, "Dear John," which opened with $30.5 million in early February, bumping "Avatar" down a notch after seven weekends at No. 1.

Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, said "Dear John" opened in a less-crowded marketplace the weekend before Valentine's Day, when women are more in the mood to see a love story.

"The Last Song" held its own among a flurry of other big releases, establishing Cyrus as a box-office draw without her "Hannah Montana" alter-ego, Viane said.

"It unquestionably proves that she can step outside the role and continue to wow them," Viane said. "She's becoming a real actress. She's going to be an important name in this business."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Clash of the Titans," $61.4 million.

2. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?", $30.2 million.

3. "How to Train Your Dragon," $29.2 million.

4. "The Last Song," $16.2 million.

5. "Alice in Wonderland," $8.3 million.

6. "Hot Tub Time Machine," $8 million.

7. "The Bounty Hunter," $6.2 million.

8. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $5.5 million.

9. "She's Out of My League," $1.463 million.

10. "Shutter Island," $1.462 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Distributed by Paramount, the DreamWorks Animation adventure came in well behind the studio's last cartoon comedy, "Monsters vs. Aliens," which opened with $59.3 million over the same weekend last year.

With strong reviews and enthusiastic responses from viewers in exit polls, DreamWorks expects "How to Train Your Dragon" to have more staying power than "Monsters vs. Aliens" in subsequent weekends, though.

"People just love the film, so we're really anticipating we'll benefit from strong word of mouth going forward," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks.

"How to Train Your Dragon," featuring the voices of Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera in the tale of a Viking youth who tames a fire-breathing reptile, did outperform some other recent animated movies, among them "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which opened with $30.3 million last September.

Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," which had been No. 1 the previous three weekends, slipped to second place with $17.3 million. It raised its domestic total to $293.1 million and its worldwide haul to $656 million.

John Cusack's raunchy comedy "Hot Tub Time Machine" had a lukewarm No. 3 debut of $13.7 million. Released by MGM, the movie features Cusack as part of a group of losers hurled back by a time-traveling hot tub to the 1980s, where they have a chance to set their lives right.

"How to Train Your Dragon" pulled in 68 percent of its revenue from 3-D presentation, another triumph for the digital technology that allows theaters to show movies in three dimensions.

Yet it also highlights the limits on how much 3-D traffic theaters are equipped to handle. "How to Train Your Dragon" took over the bulk of 3-D theaters at the expense of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," because the roughly 4,000 screens capable of showing digital 3-D movies is not enough to handle two full wide-release films at the same time.

"There's no question there are not enough screens yet," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "People who want to seek out 'Alice' in 3-D may have to travel a mile or two more than they used to. ... It's competition. I'm used to it."

After a phenomenal 15-week run, James Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar" lost most of its remaining 3-D theaters to "How to Train Your Dragon." The 20th Century Fox release finally fell out of the top 10, taking in $2 million to finish at No. 11, raising its domestic total to $740.4 million. Worldwide, the movie has taken in $2.7 billion.

Another new 3-D release, Warner Bros. action tale "Clash of the Titans," arrives Friday. While the success of 3-D movies has driven theater chains to speed up their conversion to systems that can project digital 3-D films, a screen shortage will remain for the near future.

"There is a limited amount of shelf space. It's like a traffic jam at the multiplex for these 3-D movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's a high-class problem to have, but it's still a problem."

Films playing in 3-D have topped the box office for nine of 13 weekends this year, Dergarabedian said.

Overall revenues were down for the first time in a month. Domestic receipts totaled $127 million, off 13 percent from the same weekend last year, according to Hollywood.com.

For the year, revenues are at $2.6 billion, 8.8 percent ahead of last year.

Results for "Hot Tub Time Machine" came in on the low end of distributor MGM's expectations.

"It's not great, but it's OK," said Erik Lomis, head of distribution for MGM. "It had a lot of Internet buzz, so we thought it might come in a little bit higher."

In narrower release, Sony Pictures Classics' sex thriller "Chloe" opened with $1 million in 350 theaters, averaging a weak $2,863 a cinema. That compared to an average of $10,678 in 4,055 theaters for "How to Train Your Dragon" and $4,956 in 2,754 theaters for "Hot Tub Time Machine."

Directed by Atom Egoyan, "Chloe" stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried in a drama about a woman who hires a prostitute to tempt her husband and find out if he's cheating on her.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "How to Train Your Dragon," $43.3 million.

2. "Alice in Wonderland," $17.3 million.

3. "Hot Tub Time Machine," $13.7 million.

4. "The Bounty Hunter," $12.4 million.

5. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $10 million.

6. "She's Out of My League," $3.5 million.

7. "Green Zone," $3.3 million.

8. "Shutter Island," $3.2 million.

9. "Repo Men," $3 million.

10. "Our Family Wedding," $2.2 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" took in $34.5 million to remain the No. 1 movie for a third-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney release raised its domestic haul to $265.8 million and its worldwide total to $565.8 million after just three weekends in theaters, a huge result for a film playing in the typically slow month of March.

"You rarely see this kind of domination by one movie at this time of year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Normally at this time of year, films don't make this kind of money, and they don't hold in this long."

"Alice in Wonderland" easily beat a rush of new movies led by 20th Century Fox's family film "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," which opened at No. 2 with $21.8 million. The movie is adapted from Jeff Kinney's cartoon novel about a sixth grader maneuvering through the intricate social structure at his middle school, which includes its own "cooties" game known as the "cheese touch."

"I think cheese touch equals magic touch at the box office," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution at 20th Century Fox.

Debuting at No. 3 was Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler's action comedy "The Bounty Hunter" with $21 million. Released by Sony, the movie follows a bounty hunter chasing his ex-wife, a reporter with an arrest warrant over her head after she misses a court date while pursuing a story.

"We had figured an estimate in the high teens, so 20-plus million is a good number for us," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony.

Jude Law and Forest Whitaker's action thriller "Repo Men" flopped with a No. 4 opening of $6.2 million. The Universal release features Law as a repo man on the run in a future where organs are bloodily repossessed if patients miss their payments.

In narrower release, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning's Joan Jett music drama "The Runaways" opened weakly with $803,629 in 244 theaters, averaging $3,294 a cinema.

That compared to an average of $9,229 in 3,739 theaters for "Alice in Wonderland," $7,085 in 3,077 theaters for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $6,831 in 3,074 cinemas for "The Bounty Hunter" and $2,440 in 2,521 locations for "Repo Men."

Released by Apparition, "The Runaways" stars Stewart as Jett and Fanning as singer Cherie Currie as they opened doors for women rockers in the 1970s with an all-girl band.

Ben Stiller's comic drama "Greenberg" premiered strongly in limited release, pulling in $120,432 in three theaters for a huge average of $40,144 a cinema.

Released by Focus Features, "Greenberg" stars Stiller as a neurotic whose mean tongue jeopardizes a budding romance with his brother's personal assistant (Greta Gerwig).

James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar" remained in the top 10 three months into its run. The 20th Century Fox release pulled in $4 million to raise its domestic total to $736.9 million. Worldwide, "Avatar" has taken in $2.67 billion.

"Alice in Wonderland" continued to lift overall Hollywood revenues, which came in at $130 million for the weekend, up 23 percent from the same weekend last year, when the thriller "Knowing" debuted at No. 1 with $24.6 million.

So far this year, domestic revenues are at $2.43 billion, up 10.3 percent over 2009's, according to Hollywood.com. Factoring in higher ticket prices, movie attendance is 8.2 percent ahead of last year's.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Alice in Wonderland," $34.5 million.

2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $21.8 million.

3. "The Bounty Hunter," $21 million.

4. "Repo Men," $6.2 million.

5. "She's Out of My League," $6 million.

6. "Green Zone," $5.96 million.

7. "Shutter Island," $4.8 million.

8. "Avatar," $4 million.

9. "Our Family Wedding," $3.8 million.

10. "Remember Me," $3.3 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" easily remained the No. 1 weekend draw with $62 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year.

In its second weekend in theaters, "Alice in Wonderland" pulled ahead of the $206.5 million domestic haul of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to become the top-grossing of Depp and Burton's seven films together, which include "Edward Scissorhands," "Sweeney Todd" and "Corpse Bride."

"I believe it's literally the magical, if you would, pairing of Tim and Johnny," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "When you take those two, they always seem to make something really out of the ordinary."

"Alice in Wonderland" added $76 million overseas to bring its international total to $221 million and its worldwide gross to $430 million.

A rush of new movies had so-so openings, led by Matt Damon's Iraq War thriller "Green Zone," which debuted at No. 2 with $14.5 million domestically. Released by Universal, "Green Zone" stars Damon as the leader of a U.S. Army team who stumbles onto a conspiracy over the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Paramount's romantic comedy "She's Out of My League" debuted at No. 3 with $9.6 million. The movie stars Jay Baruchel as a geek in an unlikely romance with a babe.

"Twilight" star Robert Pattinson's romantic drama "Remember Me" opened at No. 4 with $8.3 million. The Summit Entertainment release stars Pattinson and "Lost" co-star Emilie de Ravin in a dark story of young lovers with tragedy in their past.

In its fourth weekend, Paramount's "Shutter Island," the latest collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, was No. 5 with $8.1 million, raising its domestic total to $108 million.

Debuting at No. 6 with $7.6 million was Fox Searchlight's comedy "Our Family Wedding," starring America Ferrera as a Hispanic bride marrying a black man.

"Alice in Wonderland" took in nearly as much as the rest of the top-10 movies combined.

"It's like this great divide between the No. 1 and 2 films, which says that without `Alice in Wonderland' in the marketplace, we'd be hurting right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "By itself, it's really propelling huge box office."

Hollywood's business soared, with overall revenues at $144 million, up 43 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Race to Witch Mountain" led with a $24.4 million debut.

For the year, revenues are at $2.24 billion, up 9 percent compared to receipts last year, when Hollywood took in a record $10.6 billion.

Factoring in higher admission prices, movie attendance this year is running 6.7 percent ahead of 2009's, according to Hollywood.com. Before "Alice in Wonderland" opened, attendance was lagging slightly behind last year's.

"In just a couple of weeks, `Alice' has turned the entire marketplace around almost single-handedly," Dergarabedian said.

James Cameron's science-fiction sensation remained a strong draw after nearly three months in theaters, taking in $6.6 million to raise its domestic total to $730.3 million. The 20th Century Fox release has topped $2.6 billion worldwide.

Summit Entertainment's "The Hurt Locker," which beat "Avatar" for best picture at the Academy Awards, got a slight box-office bump from its Oscar triumph. The Iraq War drama, which is out on DVD but came back to theaters for Oscar season, pulled in $828,000, raising its box-office total to $15.7 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Alice in Wonderland," $62 million.

2. "Green Zone," $14.5 million.

3. "She's Out of My League," $9.6 million.

4. "Remember Me," $8.3 million.

5. "Shutter Island," $8.1 million.

6. "Our Family Wedding," $7.6 million.

7. "Avatar," $6.6 million.

8. "Brooklyn's Finest," $4.3 million.

9. "Cop Out," $4.2 million.

10. "The Crazies," $3.7 million.

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The appeal of 3-D movies helped boost movie ticket sales by nearly 8 percent to a record $29.9 billion worldwide in 2009, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The jump, from $27.8 billion a year earlier, was driven by a rise in ticket prices and the first increase in attendance in the U.S. and Canada in two years, the MPAA said. On top of that, theaters worldwide benefited from the popularity of 3-D movies, as they brought in more movie-goers, who buy tickets that cost more than regular screenings.

"Whenever screens are converted or built in 3-D the public seems to be embracing it," said Bob Pisano, the MPAA's president.

There were 20 movies released in 3-D last year, including the blockbuster "Avatar" and animated "Up." That's an increase from eight in 2008. The number of 3-D screens in the U.S. and Canada, meanwhile, more than doubled to 3,548 from 1,514.

Although 3-D movies represented less than 4 percent of the 558 films released all year, they accounted for $1.14 billion, or 11 percent of the $10.6 billion total box office haul in the U.S. and Canada. In fact, the bulk of the $1 billion increase in North American ticket sales is attributable to the 3-D movies; box office sales for 2-D movies increased by only about $70 million over 2008.

The overseas impact of 3-D was not as clear, but the number of screens capable of showing 3-D movies grew fivefold to 5,441 from 1,029.

The average ticket price in the U.S. and Canada rose 32 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.50, even though consumer prices for most goods fell amid the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Despite tighter pursestrings, the number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada grew nearly 6 percent to 1.42 billion, as people sought a way to escape their worries. The number of yearly visits to the cinema rose to 4.3 per person from 4.2, the first increase since 2002, when it was 5.2 per person.

"We believe it's because in times of economic distress, people are looking for value," Pisano said, arguing that going to the movies with a family of four is still cheaper than attending a theme park or major sporting event.

From the beginning of the year through Tuesday, ticket sales were still rising, up nearly 5 percent from a year ago to $2.06 billion in the U.S. and Canada, helped by the continuing popularity of "Avatar," the MPAA said.

"Alice in Wonderland," their update on Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," had a mammoth opening weekend of $116.1 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Alice in Wonderland," Disney, $116,101,023, 3,728 locations, $31,143 average, $116,101,023, one week.

2. "Brooklyn's Finest," Overture, $13,350,299, 1,936 locations, $6,896 average, $13,350,299, one week.

3. "Shutter Island," Paramount, $13,225,411, 3,178 locations, $4,162 average, $95,750,005, three weeks.

4. "Cop Out," Warner Bros., $9,289,311, 3,150 locations, $2,949 average, $32,504,610, two weeks.

5. "Avatar," Fox, $8,118,102, 2,163 locations, $3,753 average, $720,607,444, 12 weeks.

6. "The Crazies," Overture, $7,078,851, 2,479 locations, $2,856 average, $27,472,164, two weeks.

7. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," Fox, $5,124,623, 2,994 locations, $1,712 average, $78,057,749, four weeks.

8. "Valentine's Day," Warner Bros., $4,154,110, 3,040 locations, $1,366 average, $106,303,870, four weeks.

9. "Crazy Heart," Fox Searchlight, $3,312,591, 1,274 locations, $2,600 average, $29,532,002, 12 weeks.

10. "Dear John," Sony Screen Gems, $2,782,079, 2,496 locations, $1,115 average, $76,626,086, five weeks.

11. "The Tooth Fairy," Fox, $1,684,408, 1,734 locations, $971 average, $56,240,052, seven weeks.

12. "The Wolfman," Universal, $1,636,835, 1,829 locations, $895 average, $60,446,320, four weeks.

13. "The Ghost Writer," Summit, $1,287,646, 147 locations, $8,759 average, $2,600,505, three weeks.

14. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $1,257,186, 822 locations, $1,529 average, $250,467,047, 16 weeks.

15. "The Last Station," Sony Pictures Classics, $717,675, 354 locations, $2,027 average, $4,527,796, eight weeks.

16. "Up in the Air," Paramount, $607,465, 403 locations, $1,507 average, $83,011,223, 14 weeks.

17. "When in Rome," Disney, $575,254, 504 locations, $1,141 average, $31,720,305, six weeks.

18. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Fox, $544,451, 562 locations, $969 average, $217,367,092, 11 weeks.

19. "The Book of Eli," Warner Bros., $533,156, 555 locations, $961 average, $93,412,890, eight weeks.

20. "The Hurt Locker," Summit, $439,000, 274 locations, $1,602 average, $14,700,000, one week.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Paramount Pictures psychological thriller remained the No. 1 film for a second-straight weekend with $22.2 million, raising its 10-day total to $75.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Shutter Island" stars DiCaprio as a U.S. marshal caught in a tangle of delusions and paranoia while investigating the disappearance of a murderess at a remote hospital for the criminally insane.

"It is one of those movies that people, when they walk out of, they want to talk to somebody about," said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. "When you have a movie that engages people and they want to talk about, want to debate, want to think about it, it certainly keeps you in front of mind for people."

James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar" became the first movie ever to top the $700 million mark domestically. With a $14 million weekend, the 20th Century Fox release now is at $706.9 million domestically and $2.5 billion worldwide.

Some of that business comes from people seeing "Avatar" multiple times, but "I do believe first-time viewers are still discovering this movie," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox. "We're getting people who don't go to movies often or never go to the movies. That's how special this movie is."

Debuting in second-place with $18.6 million was the Warner Bros. police romp "Cop Out," starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Opening in third was Overture Films' horror tale "The Crazies" with $16.5 million.

Directed by Kevin Smith, "Cop Out" features Willis and Morgan as veteran detectives trying to retrieve a stolen baseball card from a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.

"Cop Out" exceeded the studio's revenue expectations and did well despite storms on the East Coast that kept some people at home, said Dan Fellman, Warner's head of distribution.

"We lost some money with the weather, but we certainly had a strong weekend," Fellman said.

"The Crazies" is a remake of George Romero's 1970s fright flick about a small town hit with an epidemic of insanity.

Scary movies typically vanish quickly because most horror fans rush out to see them over opening weekend. "The Crazies" earned better reviews than the average horror film, and its revenues on Saturday went up over Friday's opening-day numbers, often a sign that a movie might stick around longer at theaters.

"For a horror film, it looks like we've got a great run," said Kyle Davies, head of distribution for Overture.

With a $9.5 million weekend, the Warner Bros. romance "Valentine's Day" became the first movie released in 2010 to top the $100 million mark.

The Academy Awards are coming next Sunday, but the usual Oscar bounce for key nominees has been tough to assess this season. Some nominees, such as best-picture contenders "The Hurt Locker" and "Inglourious Basterds," already had run their course at theaters before the nominations.

A few _ including best-picture contender "The Blind Side" and "Crazy Heart," with a best-actor nomination for Jeff Bridges _ have hung on at the box office partly because of the awards attention.

For "Avatar," which is tied with "The Hurt Locker" with a leading nine nominations, the Oscars were simply one more reason for people to catch what already had been a runaway box-office sensation.

"I think `Avatar' would have hit $700 million with or without the Oscar nominations," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "But it can't hurt. There's got to be some part of the audience out there that was on the fence and finally decided to see it because of all these Oscar nominations."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Shutter Island," $22.2 million.

2. "Cop Out," $18.6 million.

3. "The Crazies," $16.5 million.

4. "Avatar," $14 million.

5. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," $9.8 million.

6. "Valentine's Day," $9.5 million.

7. "Dear John," $5 million.

8. "The Wolfman," $4.1 million.

9. "The Tooth Fairy," $3.5 million.

10. "Crazy Heart," $2.5 million.

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On the Net:

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Their creepy crime thriller set at a remote insane asylum opened with $40.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. A Paramount Pictures release, "Shutter Island" is the fourth collaboration for Scorsese and DiCaprio and the best opening yet for both the director and star.

Scorsese's previous personal best was $26.9 million with his 2006 Academy Awards champ "The Departed," which also starred DiCaprio. The biggest previous debut for DiCaprio was $30.1 million for 2002's "Catch Me If You Can."

Along with "The Departed," DiCaprio and Scorsese also worked together on "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator," both of them earning best-picture nominations at the Oscars.

"The two of them have great chemistry, and you see it on screen," said Rob Moore, vice chairman at Paramount.

Roman Polanski's thriller "The Ghost Writer" got off to a big start in limited release, pulling in $179,000 at four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles for a whopping average of $44,750 a cinema. That compares to a $13,440 average in 2,991 theaters for "Shutter Island."

The film likely benefited from months of press coverage over Polanski's arrest in Switzerland last fall and his possible extradition to the United States, which he fled in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

"If not for the notoriety in his public life, no, I don't think this would have done as well," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It put a spotlight on Polanski, maybe not for all the right reasons. But they say there's no such thing as bad publicity, especially when it comes to marketing a movie."

Released by Summit Entertainment, "The Ghost Writer" stars Ewan McGregor in the title role, a man hired to punch up the dreary memoirs of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) who has been accused of ordering the abduction of terrorism suspects and handing them over for torture by the CIA.

The previous weekend's top movie, the all-star romance "Valentine's Day," slipped to No. 2 with $17.2 million, falling a steep 69 percent from its $56.3 million debut. The Warner Bros. release raised its total to $87.4 million after 10 days in theaters.

The science-fiction sensation "Avatar" is still going strong after two months in theaters, coming in third with $16.1 million and raising its record domestic total to $687.8 million. Worldwide, the 20th Century Fox film has taken in $2.47 billion.

Adapted from Dennis Lehane's novel, "Shutter Island" stars DiCaprio as a U.S. marshal caught up in conspiracies and delusions while investigating the disappearance of a patient at a hospital for the criminally insane.

"Shutter Island" had been scheduled for release last October and was considered a potential Oscar contender given the awards success of Scorsese and DiCaprio's earlier collaborations.

Just six weeks before the planned release last fall, Paramount abruptly bumped "Shutter Island" to February, the studio calling it an economic decision that would increase the film's profit potential.

"We knew that more time was only going to help us get the word out and get a broader audience," Moore said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Shutter Island," $40.2 million.

2. "Valentine's Day," $17.2 million.

3. "Avatar," $16.1 million.

4. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," $15.3 million.

5. "The Wolfman," $9.8 million.

6. "Dear John," $7.3 million.

7. "The Tooth Fairy," $4.5 million.

8. "Crazy Heart," $3 million.

9. "From Paris With Love," $2.5 million.

10. "Edge of Darkness," $2.2 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

"To have a movie titled 'Valentine's Day' on Valentine's weekend was a no-brainer that absolutely worked," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Directed by Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman"), "Valentine's Day" was a celebrity bonanza. The cast includes Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Jessica Biel, Shirley MacLaine, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner.

"Valentine's Day" distributor Warner Bros. estimated its love story will be in the $60 million range after Presidents Day on Monday. That would break the Presidents Day weekend record of $52 million set by "Ghost Rider" over the four-day holiday weekend in 2007.

Opening in a tight race for No. 2 were 20th Century Fox's action fantasy "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" with $31.1 million over three days and Universal's werewolf tale "The Wolfman" with $30.6 million.

Adapted from the opening book in Rick Riordan's fantasy series, "Percy Jackson" follows the adventures of a teen who learns he's descended from the ancient Greek gods. The cast includes Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener and Rosario Dawson.

"The Wolfman" stars Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt in an update of the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. horror classic about an aristocrat who returns to his ancestral home and is bitten by a werewolf.

Coming in fourth for the weekend was 20th Century Fox's sci-fi sensation "Avatar" with $22 million, adding to a fortune that already has made it Hollywood's biggest modern blockbuster. "Avatar" raised its domestic total to $659.6 million and its worldwide haul to $2.35 billion.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Sony Screen Gems' romantic drama "Dear John," fell to fifth place with $15.3 million, lifting its 10-day total to $53.2 million.

Like "Dear John," "Valentine's Day" drew mainly women, with the female crowd making up 68 percent of the audience, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

Playing in 3,665 theaters, "Valentine's Day" had a strong average of $14,300 a cinema. That compared with a $9,267 average in 3,356 theaters for "Percy Jackson" and $9,506 in 3,222 cinemas for "The Wolfman."

Newcomers and holdovers offered something for everyone, with "Valentine's Day" and "Dear John" catering to the date crowd, "Percy Jackson" filling the family niche and the R-rated "The Wolfman" pulling in horror fans.

The breadth of movies in the market lifted Hollywood to a record Presidents Day weekend, with Hollywood.com estimating the overall three-day haul at $193 million. That's up 3 percent from the previous record set over Presidents Day weekend last year, when "Friday the 13th" led with a $40.6 million debut.

In limited release, India's "My Name Is Khan" debuted strongly with $1.9 million in 120 theaters, averaging $15,500 a cinema. Released by Fox Searchlight, "My Name Is Khan" features Shahrukh Khan, a superstar in India's Bollywood movie industry based in Mumbai.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Valentine's Day," $52.4 million.

2. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," $31.1 million.

3. "The Wolfman," $30.6 million.

4. "Avatar," $22 million.

5. "Dear John," $15.3 million.

6. "The Tooth Fairy," $5.6 million.

7. "From Paris With Love," $4.7 million.

8. "Edge of Darkness," $4.6 million.

9. "Crazy Heart," $4 million.

10. "When in Rome," $3.4 million.

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On the Net:

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Released by Sony's Screen Gems banner, "Dear John" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $32.4 million, knocking off "Avatar" after seven weekends in first place, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"It is very cool to know that it was our movie that audiences just totally embraced and made No. 1 for the weekend," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony. As for runaway blockbuster "Avatar," he quipped, "I think they're going to be fine in the long run."

"Avatar" slipped to No. 2 with $23.6 million, raising its domestic total to $630.1 million. Directed by James Cameron, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" surpassed his own "Titanic," which had held the domestic revenue record at $600.8 million.

With a record $2.2 billion worldwide, "Avatar" also has soared past the $1.8 billion "Titanic" took in globally.

Factoring in today's higher admission prices, however, "Avatar" has sold fewer tickets than "Titanic."

"Avatar" had been No. 1 domestically longer than any movie since 1997's "Titanic," which held on at first place for 15 weekends. The studio was unconcerned that "Avatar" finally fell out of the top spot.

"It had to happen sometime," said 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "There's nothing that could disappoint me with this movie."

By the eighth weekend, most Hollywood movies have long since dropped out of the top 10 rankings.

"Avatar" still is going strong after eight weeks, with the added luster of a monthlong buildup to the Academy Awards on March 7. Following the example of Oscar champ "Titanic," "Avatar" tied for the lead at the Academy Awards with nine nominations and is a front-runner to win best picture.

Fox executives would not speculate what number "Avatar" eventually might hit at the box office.

"Who knows what that is? It just keeps on going," Livingston said.

The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's spy story "From Paris With Love," opened at No. 3 with $8.1 million. The movie stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as CIA men trying to crack a terrorist plot.

Fox Searchlight's acclaimed country-music tale "Crazy Heart" expanded from narrow release and broke into the top 10, coming in at No. 8 with $3.7 million. Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal have acting Oscar nominations for the film, which follows a boozy country star trying to turn his life around.

While "Avatar" features a human-alien romance light-years away, "Dear John" centers on a long-distance love story between a soldier (Channing Tatum) and his sweetheart (Amanda Seyfried) back home.

"Dear John" had a record opening for Super Bowl weekend, topping the $31.1 million debut for "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" in 2008.

The movie was based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, whose Hollywood adaptations such as "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember" have been steady draws for women. Female crowds made up 84 percent of the audience for "Dear John," according to Sony.

Sparks "creates these stories that really pull at your heartstrings, and certainly that may be first and foremost for women rather than men, though I think a few of us have hearts, too," Bruer said. "But his stories really resonate and are very compelling for women."

That bodes well for the movie over Valentine's Day weekend, said Geoffrey Ammer, head of marketing for Relativity Media, which produced "Dear John." Valentine's weekend draws big date crowds, with women often picking which film to see.

Business on Sunday was predictably slow as football fans watched the Super Bowl instead of going to the movies. But "Dear John" already exceeded industry expectations with $26.2 million on Friday and Saturday.

"Super Bowl weekend isn't about men. It's about women," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "This counter-programming strategy just absolutely works, the female audience propelling a movie to unprecedented heights."

Hollywood could use more fresh hits like "Dear John" if it hopes to match 2009's record box office pace. The first couple of weeks this year, "Avatar" had revenue and attendance running well ahead of last year.

But revenues have now declined for four straight weekends. So far in 2010, domestic revenues are at $1.2 billion, 1.5 percent ahead of last year's, according to Hollywood.com.

Factoring in higher ticket prices this year, though, movie attendance is down 0.5 percent.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Dear John," $32.4 million.

2. "Avatar," $23.6 million.

3. "From Paris With Love," $8.1 million.

4. "Edge of Darkness," $7 million.

5. "The Tooth Fairy," $6.5 million.

6. "When in Rome," $5.5 million.

7. "The Book of Eli," $4.8 million.

8. "Crazy Heart," $3.7 million.

9. "Legion," $3.4 million.

10. "Sherlock Holmes," $2.6 million.

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On the Net:

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The estimated $278 million in weekend box-office revenue broke the previous record of roughly $253 million set in July 2008, the weekend "The Dark Knight" was released.

A diverse group of films drew throngs to the multiplexes: James Cameron's "Avatar" pushed strongly into its second week while "Sherlock Holmes," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and "It's Complicated" all opened.

"Avatar," the 3-D epic, topped them all, earning $75 million for 20th Century Fox, according to studio estimates Sunday. Remarkably, that was only a 3 percent drop from its opening weekend total of $77.4 million. (Blockbusters typically drop 30-50 percent in the second weekend.) In its 10 days of release, "Avatar" has made $212 million domestically _ and could be on its way to a worldwide gross of over $1 billion.

"This thing is going to be playing and playing, I can tell you that," said Bert Livingston, 20th Century Fox distribution executive. "There's a lot of business out there. Everybody's got good movies out."

In second was "Sherlock Holmes," Guy Ritchie's reboot of the franchise with Robert Downey Jr. starring as Arthur Conan Doyle's detective. The Warner Bros. film opened with a weekend total of $65.4 million, including a record Christmas Day debut of $24.9 million.

It was a start that seemed sure to pave the way for sequels. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., called the result "sensational."

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," which opened Wednesday, took in $50.2 million on the weekend and $77.1 million in its five days of release. The film, also from Fox, earned an impressive $18.8 million on Wednesday alone. The strong start suggested that "Squeakquel" was likely to surpass its 2007 original, which made $217 million.

Also opening was Nancy Meyer's "It's Complicated," the romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. With an audience 72 percent female, the Universal film took in $22.1 million, a solid debut.

The sparkling Christmas weekend results spelled good things for all the films in release in the coming week _ one of the most lucrative of the year.

"We all know what next week means to the industry. This is ... huge," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "Christmas is past us. No more shopping, no more returning. College kids are home. ... I'm so optimistic about what the next weekend holds for us."

Said Livingston: "Starting this Monday, every day is a Saturday."

Two films with Oscar aspirations also released wide over the weekend: Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" (Paramount) and Rob Marshall's "Nine" (Weinstein Co.).

"Up in the Air," which has some of the best awards momentum, grossed $11.8 million, bringing its cumulative total to $24.5 million _ already nearly earning back its production budget.

"For us, this movie was always the movie that we felt was going to be a real focus during the awards season," said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. "It feels like this should have a long run as awards season continues."

"Nine," the adaptation of the Broadway musical (which itself was a riff of Federico Fellini's classic film "8 1/2") earned $5.5 million in 1408 theaters.

"It's an absolutely fitting end to the biggest box office year of all time," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's just been a total roller coaster ride. It's like audience members are on board."

2009 still has several days to go, but the year is already a record for domestic ticket sales with more than $10 billion at the box office. That surpassed the $9.7 billion mark of 2007.

While some of the credit has to go the recession (movies historically do well in hard times when a trip to the movie theater is a relatively cheap form of entertainment and escapism), there was a feeling Sunday that Hollywood had put forth a better product this Christmas.

"People say it's the recession," said Dergarabedian. "It's the movies _ it's really the movies. It seems like when people aren't at home, they're at the movies."

He added: "You're going to find a smile on the face of every studio chief out there today."

Hollywood also seemed to be offering good ol' spectacle to moviegoers. "Avatar" grossed $8.8 million in IMAX theaters, actually increasing from its opening weekend. IMAX chairman and president Greg Foster said they were operating essentially at capacity.

"There is no context," said Foster. "It's so far beyond where we've ever been. It's not eking past a record, it's shattering it."

Christmas weekend was also neatly organized around various demographics. There was science-fiction, romantic comedy, family fare, action-packed thriller and serious awards-contender.

"That's what fueled this Christmas, the diversity of the films," said Dergarabedian. "It was like a cinematic buffet line. If you can't find a movie that you like in the marketplace right now, you don't like movies."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Avatar," $75 million.

2. "Sherlock Holmes," $65.4 million.

3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $50.2 million.

4. "It's Complicated," $22.1 million.

5. "Up in the Air," $11.8 million.

6. "The Blind Side," $11.7 million.

7. "The Princess and the Frog," $8.7 million.

8. "Nine," $5.5 million.

9. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" $5 million.

10. "Invictus," $4.4 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The World War II rewrite "Inglourious Basterds" and the Harlem story "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' By Sapphire" are competing for the guild's overall cast prize, along with the 1960s British drama "An Education," the Iraq War tale "The Hurt Locker" and the musical "Nine."

The corporate-downsizing tale "Up in the Air" was shut out of that category but scored a lead-actor nomination for Clooney as a frequent-flyer whiz and two supporting-actress slots, for Vera Farmiga as his new love and Anna Kendrick as his new protege.

Kruger picked up a supporting-actress honor as a German movie star and Allied spy in "Inglourious Basterds," which also earned a supporting-actor slot for Christoph Waltz as an exuberantly ruthless Nazi.

"Precious" earned a lead-actress honor for Gabourey Sidibe as an illiterate, abused teen determined to make a better life. Mo'Nique was nominated as supporting actress as the teen's despicable mother.

For best actor, Clooney is up against Jeff Bridges as a boozy country singer in "Crazy Heart," Colin Firth as a grieving gay academic in "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" and Jeremy Renner as a daredevil bomb technician in "The Hurt Locker."

Along with Sidibe, nominated for best actress are Sandra Bullock as foster mom for a future NFL star in "The Blind Side," Helen Mirren as the wife of Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station," Carey Mulligan as a teen involved with an older man in "An Education," and Meryl Streep as chef Julia Child in "Julie & Julia."

Penelope Cruz joined Farmiga, Kendrick, Kruger and Mo'Nique in the supporting-actress field, playing a filmmaker's needy mistress in "Nine."

Besides Waltz, supporting-actor picks are Matt Damon as a South Africa rugby player in "Invictus," Woody Harrelson as a military next-of-kin notifier in "The Messenger," Christopher Plummer as aging author Tolstoy in "The Last Station" and Stanley Tucci as a serial killer in "The Lovely Bones."

The choices lined up much the same as Tuesday's Golden Globe nominations. A few notable differences: SAG pick Renner missed out at the Globes, which favored Tobey Maguire for another war-on-terror tale, "Brothers"; Kruger helped announce Globe nominations but was not selected herself, Julianne Moore making the Globe supporting-actress cut for "A Single Man"; Emily Blunt, a dramatic-actress nominee at the Globes for "The Young Victoria," was snubbed by SAG.

Television nominees included familiar names, comedy-series actress Tina Fey and actor Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock," which also had a nomination for overall cast. The show won all three SAG comedy categories last year. Baldwin has won the comedy-show actor prize the last three years, while Fey has won for actress the last two.

Other TV comedies nominated for best cast are "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Glee," "Modern Family" and "The Office."

Last year's drama cast winner, "Mad Men," is nominated again, along with "The Closer, "Dexter," "The Good Wife" and "True Blood."

The SAG Awards will be handed out Jan. 23.

The guild prizes are a prelude for what actors might take home at the Academy Awards. Three of the four guild recipients last year _ Sean Penn for "Milk," Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight" and Kate Winslet for "The Reader" _ went on to win Oscars. Most members of the academy's acting branch are also members of SAG.

"Slumdog Millionaire," which earned the guild's cast honor, wound up dominating at the Oscars, winning best picture and other key awards.

Film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people each, randomly chosen from the guild's roughly 100,000 members. The guild's full membership is eligible to vote for winners.

The show will include the guild's life-achievement award for Betty White.

___

On the Net:

Screen Actors Guild: http://www.sagawards.org

The Disney musical is the studio's first hand-drawn animated tale in five years, a contrast to the computer-animated films that now dominate the cartoon world.

"I've always believed that when you start with great storytelling, then the format aside doesn't mean anything," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

The movie also is a return to Disney's reinvention of classic fairy tales, offering a 1920s New Orleans twist on the Brothers Grimm story "The Frog Prince," following the adventures of a young woman turned into a frog by a kiss from an amphibian.

Despite its No. 1 finish, "The Princess and the Frog" drew modest crowds compared to many big animated tales, which can open with two or three times as much business. Those films typically open during the busy summer season, though, and Disney is counting on the long shelf life that many films manage during the holidays.

"The Princess and the Frog" took over at No. 1 from the inspiring sports tale "The Blind Side," which slipped to second-place with $15.5 million. Released by Warner Bros., "The Blind Side" raised its total to $150.2 million.

A surprise box-office sensation, "The Blind Side" is on its way to a domestic total of about $230 million, said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of distribution.

"The Blind Side" chronicles the real-life story of Baltimore Ravens rookie lineman Michael Oher, who had been a homeless teen taken in by a wealthy couple (Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw).

"It's the heartland that's pulling the strings of the movie," Fellman said. "While it's performing well everywhere, the response in smaller marketplaces and Christian communities has been outstanding."

The film opened the same weekend as "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," but with only a fraction of that movie's blockbuster business. Audience word-of-mouth has kept crowds coming for "The Blind Side," while "New Moon" has waned to the No. 4 spot with an $8 million weekend, raising its domestic haul to $267.4 million.

Warner Bros. also had the No. 3 film with a $9.1 million debut for another inspirational sports drama, Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela saga "Invictus," featuring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Freeman stars as the South African leader, who uses an underdog World Cup run by the country's rugby team to help unite the racially divided nation.

Though it had a modest start, "Invictus" debuted in the range of Eastwood's sober drama's "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby" in their first weekends of wide release. Eastwood's films draw older audiences and tend to have a long life at the box office, Fellman said.

"The Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson had a strong opening in limited release for "The Lovely Bones," which pulled in $116,000 in three theaters.

The Paramount Pictures release features Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci in an adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-seller about a murdered girl looking back on her grieving family from the afterlife.

The Weinstein Co. drama "A Single Man" also started well with $216,328 in nine theaters. The film stars Colin Firth as a gay academic in the early 1960s who's planning to end his life amid grief over his lover's death.

Hollywood is poised for a big finish to its record box-office year, with James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar" opening Friday, followed Christmas week by the family comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Robert Downey Jr.'s action tale "Sherlock Holmes" and the nationwide expansion of George Clooney's comedy "Up in the Air."

With nearly three weeks left in the year, 2009 domestic revenues already have set a new record of $9.79 billion, surpassing the previous high of $9.68 billion in 2007, according to Paul Dergarabedian, Hollywood.com box-office analyst.

Domestic grosses should top $10 billion for the first time within the next 10 days or so. Dergarabedian estimates that Hollywood will finish the year with $10.5 billion domestically.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Princess and the Frog," $25 million.

2. "The Blind Side," $15.5 million.

3. "Invictus," $9.1 million.

4. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," $8 million.

5. "Disney's a Christmas Carol," $6.9 million.

6. "Brothers," $5 million.

7. "2012," $4.4 million.

8. "Old Dogs," $4.39 million.

9. "Armored," $3.5 million.

10. "Ninja Assassin," $2.7 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

She stars in the football-inspired drama "The Blind Side" that has become the underdog hit of the season with a $20.4 million weekend and a box-office victory over "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

The Warner Bros. sports tale had been runner-up for the previous two weekends to Summit Entertainment's vampire romance "New Moon," which fell to second place with $15.7 million.

Great word-of-mouth from fans has sustained "The Blind Side," in which Bullock plays a woman whose family adopts homeless teen Michael Oher, now a rookie tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.

"How outstanding is it to have a movie at No. 1 in its third weekend?" said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president for distribution at Warner, who added that the movie so far has done more than double the business he expected. "I don't know of anybody who ever saw anything this big."

"New Moon" still is far ahead in total gross with $255.6 million domestically, compared to $129.3 million for "The Blind Side." Overseas, "New Moon" added $40.7 million to raise its international total to $314.5 million and its worldwide gross to $570.1 million.

"The Blind Side" and "New Moon" fended off a rush of new wide releases that had so-so to abysmal openings.

The nationwide debuts were overshadowed by a huge premiere in limited release for George Clooney's comedy "Up in the Air," which took in nearly $1.2 million at just 15 theaters for a whopping average of $79,000 a cinema.

Directed by Jason Reitman ("Juno"), Paramount's "Up in the Air" has earned great reviews and buzz as a potential Academy Awards front-runner, positioning it for a long run in theaters as it expands nationwide over the next few weeks. Clooney plays a corporate hit man addicted to the frequent-flyer life as he travels the country firing people for downsizing companies.

Lionsgate's war-on-terror-themed drama "Brothers" debuted at No. 3 with $9.7 million, averaging $4,646 in 2,088 theaters. A remake of a 2004 Danish film, "Brothers" stars Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal in the story of a prisoner of war who returns from Afghanistan to find his sibling has become the man of the house for his family.

Sony's heist thriller "Armored," with Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne, premiered with $6.6 million and tied for No. 6, averaging $3,446 in 1,915 theaters.

Another foreign-language remake _ Miramax's "Everybody's Fine," with Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale in an update of a 1990 Italian film _ opened a weak No. 10 with $4 million for an average of $1,888 in 2,133 cinemas. De Niro plays a retiree on a journey to reconnect with his grown children.

The vampire mania over "New Moon" did not extend to Full Circle Releasing's bloodsucker comedy "Transylmania," which took in just $274,000 in 1,007 theaters for a dismal average of $272. The movie is a campus-horror spoof about students studying at a Transylvania college overrun by vampires.

Overall revenues came in at $101 million, up 22.6 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Four Christmases" was No. 1 with $16.8 million.

Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, estimates domestic receipts will finish at $10.6 billion for the year, easily surpassing the industry's all-time high of $9.68 billion in 2007.

Revenues stand at $9.66 billion after this weekend, so Hollywood should break that 2007 record in the next couple of days, Dergarabedian said.

With big movies such as James Cameron's sci-fi epic "Avatar" opening Dec. 18 and Robert Downey Jr.'s crime saga "Sherlock Holmes" and the family comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" arriving Christmas week, that $10.6 billion estimate for the year might prove conservative, Dergarabedian said.

"It will probably go higher if we consistently outperform the way we have been," Dergarabedian said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Blind Side," $20.4 million.

2. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," $15.7 million.

3. "Brothers," $9.7 million.

4. "Disney's a Christmas Carol," $7.5 million.

5. "Old Dogs," $6.9 million.

6. "Armored" (tie), $6.6 million.

6. "2012" (tie), $6.6 million.

8. "Ninja Assassin," $5 million.

9. "Planet 51," $4.3 million.

10. "Everybody's Fine," $4 million.

___

On the Net:

Box Office, http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

"Swingers" co-stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau buddied up for the weekend's top movie as "Couples Retreat" debuted with $35.3 million, while the micro-budgeted fright flick "Paranormal Activity" leaped into the top 10.

Shot for a reported $15,000, "Paranormal Activity" came in at No. 5 with $7.1 million as distributor Paramount expanded it into daylong release after two weeks of midnight-only screenings.

"Paranormal Activity" played in narrow release of just 160 cinemas, a fraction of the theater count for other top movies. It averaged a whopping $44,163 a theater, compared with $11,780 in 3,000 theaters for "Couples Retreat."

"You almost do a double take when you look at that theater count for a movie in the top five," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's amazing. That's unprecedented."

"Couples Retreat" exceeded expectations for distributor Universal Pictures, which had hoped the movie would top the $20 million range. The solid opening came just days after Universal replaced top managers Marc Shmuger and David Linde with Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley, who were promoted from other jobs within the studio.

The management shake-up followed a summer of slim pickings at the box office for Universal, which released the Will Ferrell dud "Land of the Lost" and such commercial underachievers as Adam Sandler's "Funny People" and Jennifer Aniston's "Love Happens."

"I feel pretty good today. Happy to have a hit," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "It happened at the right time, because it did lift our spirits, having the summer we had."

Along with Vaughn and Favreau, whose collaborations include last year's holiday hit "Four Christmases," "Couples Retreat" features Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman in a tale of friends at an island therapy resort.

"Paranormal Activity" was acquired by former Paramount partner DreamWorks at 2007's Slamdance Film Festival with the idea that writer-director Oren Peli would re-shoot it on a bigger budget.

But after audiences responded well to a test screening, Paramount decided to sneak "Paranormal Activity" out in a manner befitting its raw, independent roots. The studio began two weekends ago with midnight screenings in 13 cities, the movie building buzz online much as "The Blair Witch Project" did 10 years ago.

Like "Blair Witch," "Paranormal Activity" is fiction shot in documentary style as a young man tries to record strange doings and apparitions in the house he shares with his girlfriend.

Fans talked it up on Twitter and Facebook, while the movie expanded to more cities based on which markets received the most requests to see it on a Web site Paramount set up. This past weekend's 46 markets were heavy on big cities, but mid-sized cities such as Norfolk, Va., also made the cut as fans there voted to bring the movie.

"We all spend a lot of time talking about Facebook and Twitter and our ability to communicate. Here's a case where it allows people to rally around a movie they care about and for them to have a sense of participation, then tell other people, 'Hey, this is something you should see, too,'" said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman.

According to Paramount, "Paranormal Activity" had a record weekend for a movie playing in fewer than 200 theaters, surpassing the $3.7 million haul for "Platoon" in 174 theaters early in its run in 1987. Factoring in today's higher prices for movie tickets, which average nearly twice as much as in 1987, "Paranormal Activity" sold about the same number of tickets as "Platoon."

Including its take from midnight screenings the previous two weeks, "Paranormal Activity" has grossed $8.3 million. Paramount plans to expand it to several hundred more theaters next weekend, again adding new markets based on where it gets the most requests.

Sony's "Zombieland," the No. 1 movie the previous weekend, slipped to second place with $15 million, raising its total to $47.8 million.

In limited release, the acclaimed British drama "An Education" opened strongly with $162,381 in four theaters for an average of $40,595 a cinema. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina in the story of a 1960s teen whose route to an Oxford education is sidetracked by an affair with an older man.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Couples Retreat," $35.3 million.

2. "Zombieland," $15 million.

3. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," $12 million.

4. "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in 3-D, $7.7 million.

5. "Paranormal Activity," $7.1 million.

6. "Surrogates," $4.1 million.

7. "The Invention of Lying," $3.4 million.

8. "Whip It," $2.8 million.

9. "Capitalism: A Love Story," $2.7 million.

10. "Fame," $2.6 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

(This version CORRECTS "Couples Retreat" co-star to Kristen Bell, instead of Stewart, in the 8th paragraph.)

The Sony animated tale raised its domestic haul to $60 million after 10 days in theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" fended off Bruce Willis' action thriller "Surrogates," a Disney release that debuted at No. 2 with $15 million.

Opening in third place with $10 million was MGM's "Fame," a new take on the 1980s music and dance hit about students at a school for performing arts.

Michael Moore's documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story" opened strongly in limited release with a $240,000 weekend haul in just four theaters, raising its total to $306,586 since premiering Wednesday. The Overture Films release expands nationwide Friday.

Overall business dipped, with Hollywood's total domestic gross at $100.5 million, down 4.5 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Eagle Eye" opened at No. 1 with $29.2 million.

While it was generally quiet for new movies, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" held up strongly, its receipts dropping just 19 percent from a $30.3 million opening weekend. Revenues for many films fall 50 percent or more in their second weekends.

"We've seen that not only families but teens seem to be embracing it, as well," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "To only drop 19 percent, it's just one of those movies that's playing to everybody."

Some Hollywood analysts had expected "Surrogates" to open in first place. With a production budget reported at $80 million, the movie's $15 million weekend was a blow to Disney.

"Unfortunately, I don't think this was a great moviegoing weekend, for whatever reason," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "I'm disappointed we're not No. 1, but very happy we beat the other films we opened against."

While "Fame" opened even lower, it cost far less to produce, with a budget of just $18 million.

"Do I wish it was better? Yeah. But are we going to lose money? No," said Erik Lomis, head of distribution for "Fame" distributor MGM.

"Capitalism" opened in four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, its big weekend putting it on track to become the latest documentary hit from Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine").

With "Capitalism," Moore examines the roots of the economic meltdown, mixing interviews from people losing jobs and homes with his trademark stunts, such as wrapping crime-scene tape around Wall Street.

"People are frustrated, and I think Michael points some things out that are pretty thought-provoking and pretty eye-opening," said Kyle Davies, head of distribution for Overture. "It's timely. People want to see what's going on, but the movie's funny and entertaining at the same time. Michael's one of the unique people able to point to some topical issues and make it extremely interesting."

Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," $24.6 million.

2. "Surrogates," $15 million.

3. "Fame," $10 million.

4. "The Informant!", $6.9 million.

5. "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," $4.8 million.

6. "Pandorum," $4.4 million.

7. "Love Happens," $4.3 million.

8. "Jennifer's Body," $3.5 million.

9. "9," $2.8 million.

10. "Inglourious Basterds," $2.7 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Johnny Depp sailed onstage Friday on a pirate ship at the Anaheim Convention Center to help announce the forthcoming installment of Disney's blockbuster film franchise. He was welcomed with a rousing standing ovation.

Depp will reprise his role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," slated for summer of 2011. It's the fourth in a series.

Dressed as Sparrow, Depp staggered around the stage and embraced Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, who announced the news to about 5,000 fans on hand for the D23 Expo, Disney's answer to Comic-Con.

"Has anyone else witnessed a talking frog?" Depp's Sparrow asked the crowd, who had been treated to a performance by the Muppets moments earlier. "Where has the frog gone?"

Cook noted that it was likely time for some rum.

"Sounds good!" Sparrow predictably replied.

In his presentation of upcoming Disney films, Cook also announced that Depp would play Tonto in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of "The Lone Ranger."

The first all-things-Disney convention runs through Sunday.

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On the Net:

http://d23.disney.go.com/

The horror tale "The Final Destination" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $28.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Warner Bros. sequel is the latest installment in the franchise about people stalked by death after a premonition saves them from their destined demise.

"Final Destination" took over the top spot from Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt's World War II saga "Inglourious Basterds," which slipped to second place with $20 million. The Weinstein Co. release raised its total to $73.8 million after 10 days in theaters.

Weinstein also had the No. 3 slot with the horror flick "Halloween II," which opened with $17.4 million. The movie is Rob Zombie's sequel to his update of the slasher franchise about crazed killer Michael Myers.

It's unusual for two horror movies to open over the same weekend. While "Final Destination" and "Halloween II" competed for the same audience, both managed solid receipts.

"They got their $17 million, we got our $28 million. That's a lot of business all around," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner Bros.

"Final Destination" continued Hollywood's streak of 3-D successes. The 3-D component accounted for 70 percent of the movie's revenues, even though only 54 percent of the 3,121 theaters where it played offered the movie in 3D.

The Weinstein Co. plans to release "Halloween 3" in 3-D next summer, said Bob Weinstein, who co-founded the company with brother Harvey. While Zombie will not be back to direct, the next sequel will pick up from his story and give a new twist on slasher Myers, Weinstein said.

"Halloween II" did far less business than Zombie's "Halloween," which opened at No. 1 with $30.6 million two years ago. But Weinstein noted that the sequel took in more than its $15 million production budget over opening weekend.

"It's like hitting a single or a double," Weinstein said. "There are going to be bigger ones like 'Inglourious Basterds,' but for the Weinstein Co., we don't mind having two or three of these a year."

The weekend's other new wide release, Focus Features' music romp "Taking Woodstock," opened a weak No. 9 with $3.7 million. Directed by Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Brokeback Mountain"), "Taking Woodstock" is a nostalgic look behind the scenes at the mammoth 1969 rock concert.

Though Hollywood's summer season historically does not end until Labor Day, the holiday comes late this year, adding an extra week to the movie schedule and skewing comparisons to past summers.

Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian is using this Monday to mark the end of the season, since this weekend corresponded to Labor Day weekend last year. Dergarabedian estimated that through Monday, Hollywood will have taken in $4.26 billion, 1.5 percent ahead of the revenue record the industry set in summer 2008.

While receipts ran at an all-time high, attendance was off 2.2 percent compared with last summer factoring in this year's higher ticket prices, he said.

Revenues had lagged compared to last year's because of a midsummer skid, but Hollywood finished with an unusually strong lineup in August, typically a quiet time at the box office.

"August gave us the record," Dergarabedian said. "Virtually every summer crosses the finish line with a whimper. This year, we crossed with a bang."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Final Destination," $28.3 million.

2. "Inglourious Basterds," $20 million.

3. "Halloween II," $17.4 million.

4. "District 9," $10.7 million.

5. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," $8 million.

6. "Julie & Julia," $7.4 million.

7. "The Time Traveler's Wife," $6.7 million.

8. "Shorts," $4.9 million.

9. "Taking Woodstock," $3.7 million.

10. "G-Force," $2.8 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

It was Tarantino's best opening ever, exceeding the $25.1 million haul for 2004's "Kill Bill _ Vol. 2." Overseas, "Inglourious Basterds" added $27.5 million in 22 countries, giving it a worldwide total of $65.1 million.

Released domestically by the Weinstein Co. and overseas by Universal, "Inglourious Basterds" features Pitt and an international ensemble in a sprawling tale of Jewish commandos and a plot to take out Nazi leaders at a movie premiere during World War II.

The film provided a much-needed hit for Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who have managed only lackluster receipts at their new outfit since departing Disney-owned Miramax four years ago.

At Miramax, the Weinsteins balanced prestige and profit with a string of Academy Awards triumphs such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Chicago" and hits such as Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and the "Scary Movie" and "Scream" franchises.

"Tarantino helped build the house of Miramax. He's proving right now that he's helping to build the house of Weinstein," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

So far, the Weinstein Co. has been unable to reproduce that Miramax success, its lineup burdened by box-office underachievers such as last year's "Soul Men" and 2007's "Grindhouse," Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's B-movie double-feature.

Harvey Weinstein said critics continually write off him and his brother, including a magazine piece in 2002 "saying we were the flavor of the '90s but we were kind of over in the new millennium."

Weeks later, he noted, Miramax scored 40 Oscar nominations, among them three of the five best-picture nominees, including eventual winner "Chicago."

Weinstein said his new company has a strong lineup ahead, including next weekend's horror sequel "Halloween II" along with "Chicago" director Rob Marshall's musical "Nine" and the post-apocalypse saga "The Road" late in the year.

Rodriguez, Tarantino's "Grindhouse" partner, did not fare so well with "Shorts," his Warner Bros. family comedy that debuted at No. 6 with just $6.6 million. The movie features William H. Macy, James Spader, Leslie Mann and a cast of kids in a series of loosely linked adventures centered on a magic rock that grants wishes.

Fox Atomic's comedy "Post Grad," with Alexis Bledel as a college graduate who moves back home with her eccentric family after she's unable to land her dream job, tanked with $2.8 million, coming in at No. 10.

The previous weekend's top movie, Sony's sci-fi thriller "District 9," slipped to second-place with $18.9 million. With a domestic total of $73.5 million, the movie is on its way to becoming a $100 million sleeper hit.

Hollywood's revenues were up for the third-straight weekend, a late-season surge that has helped the industry recover from a monthlong slide in receipts. Overall ticket sales were $134 million, up 27 percent compared to the same weekend last year.

The weekend put Hollywood back on track to break last summer's revenue record of $4.2 billion, though receipts this season are up only a fraction.

Factoring in higher ticket prices this year, movie attendance is running 3 percent below last summer's, according to Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Inglourious Basterds," $37.6 million.

2. "District 9," $18.9 million.

3. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," $12.5 million.

4. "The Time Traveler's Wife," $10 million.

5. "Julie & Julia," $9 million.

6. "Shorts," $6.6 million.

7. "G-Force," $4.2 million.

8. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $3.5 million.

9. "The Ugly Truth," $2.9 million.

10. "Post Grad," $2.8 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Vacuum Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Compacts Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Sony release produced by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson led the weekend with a $37 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"District 9" is the debut feature from commercial and music-video director Neill Blomkamp, who co-wrote the tale about extraterrestrials forced by humans to live in squalor in a ghetto in South Africa.

The movie built audience interest with a clever marketing campaign playing up the theme of prejudice against aliens, including posters instructing citizens to report non-humans and ads on bus benches stating that the seats are for humans only.

"Everybody was like, 'What is this?' There was a big question mark in people's minds," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It did really pique their interest and drove them to the Internet and elsewhere to discover what's going on."

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Paramount's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," slipped to second place with $22.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $98.8 million.

Another sci-fi tale, the Warner Bros. romance "The Time Traveler's Wife" starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, opened a solid No. 3 with $19.2 million. The film joined the previous weekend's "Julie & Julia" as a choice for women, with females accounting for 76 percent of its audience.

"District 9" and "Time Traveler's Wife" led a wave of five new wide releases for mid-August, when Hollywood's summer output normally is petering out. The rush continues next weekend with another surge of new releases, led by Quentin Tarantino's World War II saga "Inglourious Basterds."

"It's getting very crowded, and it's these films that want to compete in the summer time frame but can't compete in the sweet spot of summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Opening 'District 9' against 'Star Trek,' that would not be a good strategy. But to release it now makes sense. August is the month of opportunity for films that in other months of summer would get slaughtered."

The weekend's other debuts: Paramount Vantage's used-car comedy "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard," opening at No. 6 with $5.4 million; Disney's animated adventure "Ponyo" from animation master Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away"), coming in at No. 9 with $3.5 million; and Summit Entertainment's teen rock 'n' roll tale "Bandslam," which tanked at No. 13 with just $2.3 million despite a cast that includes Vanessa Hudgens of "High School Musical."

It was Hollywood's second weekend in a row of rising revenues after a monthlong slide compared with summer 2008, when the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" was smashing box-office records.

Overall receipts came in at $142 million, up 14 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "Tropic Thunder" debuted at No. 1 with $25.8 million.

Revenues since the summer season opened the first weekend of May are at $3.77 billion, just a fraction below where Hollywood was last summer, according to Hollywood.com.

Factoring in higher ticket prices, admissions are off 4 percent compared to summer 2008, though movie attendance remains strong given how "The Dark Knight" dominated a year ago. The biggest blockbuster since "Titanic," "The Dark Knight" topped out with a domestic haul of $531 million.

"Considering we had a movie of that magnitude in the mix, I think this summer has held up very well for itself," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight."

Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "District 9," $37 million.

2. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," $22.5 million.

3. "The Time Traveler's Wife," $19.2 million.

4. "Julie & Julia," $12.4 million.

5. "G-Force," $6.9 million.

6. "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard," $5.4 million.

7. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $5.2 million.

8. "The Ugly Truth," $4.5 million.

9. "Ponyo," $3.5 million.

10. "500 Days of Summer," $3 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Inspired by the Hasbro action figure, Paramount's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" took command of the weekend box office with a $56.2 million debut domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. "G.I. Joe" also took in $44.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $100.5 million.

Meryl Streep's Julia Child tale "Julie & Julia" opened a solid No. 2 as an alternative for adult crowds with $20.1 million. While "G.I. Joe" was the first choice for young males, women 35 and older were the main audience for "Julie & Julia."

"G.I. Joe" follows Paramount's "Transformers" franchise as the latest toy story to find success on the big screen.

Harsh reviews for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" earlier this summer prompted Paramount to skip critic screenings for "G.I. Joe" and put the movie in theaters sight-unseen by most reviewers.

Critics generally trashed the "Transformers" sequel, yet it had a colossal opening and is on its way to joining the handful of movies to top $400 million domestically. Based on that disparity between critical and commercial reaction, the studio decided it could do without reviews for "G.I. Joe."

"The thing we saw from 'Transformers' is that with these kind of movies, at times critics have a hard time getting their arms around them," said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. "But the audience got exactly what it was. A fun summer movie, a great way to end your summer. You just relax and have a good time. You don't have to worry about global politics or global warming."

Critics who went to see "G.I. Joe" after it opened gave it mixed reviews at best, with many branding it mindless action but some finding it fun and entertaining.

The weekend's other new wide release, Universal's slasher thriller "A Perfect Getaway" with Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich, opened weakly at No. 7 with $5.8 million.

The previous weekend's top movie, Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen's "Funny People," tumbled to No. 5 with $7.9 million, down a whopping 65 percent from its opening weekend. The Universal release has taken in $40.4 million so far.

"G.I. Joe" pulled Hollywood out of a monthlong box-office swoon compared with last summer. The overall box office came in at $147 million, up 22 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" still was the No. 1 flick after four weeks in release.

"'Joe' kind of saved the day," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "We needed a box-office hero to turn things around, and we certainly got it."

But summer revenues continue to lag behind last year's, with receipts this season down about 1 percent.

"G.I. Joe" features Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a globe-trotting adventure about an elite military unit taking on a corrupt arms dealer.

While the G.I. Joe action figures started out as all-American heroes, the movie expands their story to include an international team of good guys to capitalize on overseas box office, which nowadays can equal or exceed domestic receipts for Hollywood movies.

"One of the best markets on the movie was Russia," Moore said. "How far G.I. Joe has come. He was incredibly popular in Russia."

"Julie & Julia" casts Streep as celebrated chef Child and Amy Adams as a woman trying to revitalize her own life by cooking every recipe in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Sony opened it opposite "G.I. Joe" to give adults a fresh option after a summer of action adventures, family flicks and comedies.

"We felt the audience we were going to start with was going to be very hungry by this point," said Rory Bruer, Sony's head of distribution. "It's a really fun movie with heart and humor and good food."

Child was also a hit on Amazon.com this weekend. "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was the Web site's top seller Sunday, while Child's memoir "My Life in France" was No. 9.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," $56.2 million.

2. "Julie & Julia," $20.1 million.

3. "G-Force," $9.8 million.

4. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $8.9 million.

5. "Funny People," $7.9 million.

6. "The Ugly Truth," $7 million.

7. "A Perfect Getaway," $5.8 million.

8. "Aliens in the Attic," $4 million.

9. "Orphan," $3.73 million.

10. "500 Days of Summer," $3.7 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

(This version CORRECTS the spelling of Child's last name. Moving on general news, financial and entertainment services.)

Hughes died of a heart attack during a Thursday morning walk in Manhattan, spokeswoman Michelle Bega said. The 59-year-old was in New York to visit family.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from comedy writer to ad writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of "Sixteen Candles," or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in "The Breakfast Club."

Hughes' ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular "Home Alone," which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."

"I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said. "The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man."

Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack ("Sixteen Candles"), Judd Nelson ("The Breakfast Club"), Steve Carell ("Curly Sue") and Lili Taylor ("She's Having a Baby").

Ringwald said in a statement quoted on People.com that she was "stunned and incredibly sad" to hear about Hughes' death.

"He will be missed _ by me and by everyone that he has touched," she said. "My heart and all my thoughts are with his family now."

Actor and director Bill Paxton credited Hughes for launching his career by casting him as bullying older brother Chet in the 1985 film "Weird Science."

"He took a tremendous chance on me," Paxton said. "Like Orson Welles, he was a boy wonder, a director's director, a writer's writer, a filmmaker's filmmaker. He was one of the giants."

Hughes films, especially "Home Alone," were among the most popular of their time and the director was openly involved in marketing them. But, with his ever-handy "idea books," Hughes worked as much from personal life as from commercial instinct. His "National Lampoon" scripts were inspired by his own family's vacations. "Sixteen Candles," in which Ringwald plays a teen whose 16th birthday is forgotten, was based on a similar event in a friend's life.

Tall and pale, with a high head of hair and owlish glasses, Hughes caught on just a couple of years after MTV was launched. MTV teens were drawn to his stories and their conflicts about self-discovery and fitting in.

Those who related to his films related in full. They hung posters of "The Breakfast Club" on their walls. They coveted Ringwald's Ralph Lauren boots. They bought the soundtracks, with such MTV favorites as Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." They giggled at and then repeated such naughty dialogue as "I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek" or related to such philosophy as "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

Actor Matthew Broderick worked with Hughes in 1986 when he played the title character in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

"I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family," Broderick said.

Hughes was a salesman's son who recalled having a fairly happy childhood, though he was a bit of a loner in high school. An art student at the University of Arizona, he dropped out and returned to the Chicago area, where he began sending jokes _ unsolicited _ to such comedians as Norm Crosby and Rodney Dangerfield.

He then moved into advertising before becoming a Hollywood screen writer in the late 1970s who, like so many in his profession, tired of seeing his work changed. He wanted to direct. He was unsure how, and afraid to work with experienced actors, so he came up with a simple, youthful plot _ a bunch of teens in a single room, which became "The Breakfast Club." (His second release as a director, "Sixteen Candles," came out first.)

Between 1984 and 1990, he wrote or directed more than a dozen hits and acquired enough power to move back to the Chicago area. He remained popular even when his key characters, in "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck," were adults.

But as Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and he increasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for "Curly Sue," and he wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.

Devin Ratray, best known for playing Culkin's older brother Buzz McCallister in the "Home Alone" films, said he remained close to Hughes over the years.

"He changed my life forever," Ratray said. "Nineteen years later, people from all over the world contact me telling me how much 'Home Alone' meant to them, their families, and their children."

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Associated Press writer Amy Westfeldt, Entertainment Writer Douglas J. Rowe and Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara in New York and AP writer Solvej Schou and Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Universal Pictures' "Funny People," with Sandler trading adolescent humor for an adult story about a terminally ill comedy star, debuted as the top weekend movie with $23.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was a modest weekend for Hollywood, with the shadow of last summer's juggernaut "The Dark Knight" hanging over the current blockbuster season. Overall summer revenues, which had been running ahead of last year's since early May, dipped below those of 2008, when "The Dark Knight" was packing theaters for weeks on end.

"It's staggering how strong 'The Dark Knight' was last year. At this point last year, 'The Dark Knight' had added nearly $400 million to the summer box office. How can you compete with that?" said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Revenues this weekend came in at $122 million, down 20 percent from a year ago, when "The Dark Knight" led with $42.7 million, followed by "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" with $40.5 million.

"The Dark Knight" went on to a $533 million domestic haul, the biggest hit since "Titanic."

Since the summer season opened the first week of May, Hollywood's domestic receipts total $3.34 billion, off 0.8 percent through the same weekend last summer, according to figures compiled by Hollywood.com.

Factoring in this year's higher ticket prices, movie attendance this season is down 4.4 percent compared with summer 2008.

Next weekend's new action tale, Paramount's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," has great fan buzz and could help set Hollywood back on track to break last summer's domestic revenue record of $4.2 billion, Dergarabedian said.

For the year, movies have rung up $6.43 billion, on pace to break the revenue record of $9.68 billion set in 2007.

Coming in second for the weekend was the Warner Bros. fantasy adventure "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" with $17.7 million, raising its domestic total to $255.5 million.

Disney's family action tale "G-Force," the previous weekend's top movie, slipped to third with $17.1 million, lifting its total to $66.5 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's family flick "Aliens in the Attic," opened at No. 5 with $7.8 million.

"Funny People" debuted well below most of Sandler's comedies, which typically start with $30 million to $40 million opening weekends. Universal is counting on good word of mouth to keep it alive for a long run at the box office.

The movie pairs Sandler as the dying comic with Seth Rogen as his new assistant and joke writer. It also reunites Rogen with his "Knocked Up" director Judd Apatow, a longtime friend and former roommate of Sandler.

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, compared the shift in tone for Sandler to Tom Cruise's turn as a hit man in "Collateral," a film that opened in the same range then held on to become a $100 million hit.

"This is Adam and even Judd to an extent stretching out in their careers to something that's a bit out of the norm," Rocco said. "A big movie star in a different kind of role."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Funny People," $23.4 million.

2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $17.7 million.

3. "G-Force," $17.1 million.

4. "The Ugly Truth," $13 million.

5. "Aliens in the Attic," $7.8 million.

6. "Orphan," $7.3 million.

7. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $5.3 million.

8. "The Hangover," $5.1 million.

9. "The Proposal," $4.8 million.

10. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $4.6 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The 3-D "G-Force" was the top movie at the box office this weekend, opening with $32.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney release from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, with its mixture of live action and computer-generated animation, is a "Mission: Impossible"-style adventure. It features voiceover work from Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan and Penelope Cruz as resourceful rodents.

Last week's No. 1 film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," came in a close second with an estimated $30 million. That's a whopping 61-percent drop from its huge opening last weekend of $79.5 million.

Coming in third was another of the week's wide releases, the battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," which had a $27 million opening.

The sixth installment in the Harry Potter franchise has now made $222 million total, which is $14 million ahead of where part five, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was after 12 days in theaters in 2007. And this week, "Half-Blood Prince" will start showing on 166 IMAX screens, which the last "Harry Potter" movie did from the start.

"So we're coming in with this one (in IMAX) a little bit late, but it's going to be a great addition and it'll keep our momentum going," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution.

"G-Force" triumphed in a crowded summer marketplace with its combination of 3-D effects and the Disney and Bruckheimer brands, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group.

"You never go into a situation where you're competing against two important movies _ the second weekend of 'Harry Potter' and the opening weekend of 'The Ugly Truth' _ you never go in cocky," Zoradi said.

The one-two of PG-rated movies reinforces the fact that summer is prime family movie time, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"This summer is all about packaging and escapism," Dergarabedian said of the strong showing for "G-Force." "People were scratching their heads and dragging their kids to go see this thing. They were watching the trailers with absolute shock going, 'Is that really happening?' But as a kid you're like, 'I gotta go see it.' This is a testament to the fact that Jerry Bruckheimer, like ('Transformers' director) Michael Bay, knows exactly what summer movie audiences want."

With $27 million, "The Ugly Truth" performed at the high end of Sony Pictures' expectations, said head of distribution Rory Bruer.

"The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler is a blast. It's really a lot of fun, everything we'd hoped it would be," Bruer said. "From sneak previews to word-of-mouth screenings we had on the movie, we knew people liked the movie."

Critics weren't so enamored, though: "The Ugly Truth" received just 15 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site.

"If I have a choice of deciding between what the audience's opinion is going to be versus the critics', I'll definitely go with the audience's every day, and they spoke loud and clear," Bruer said.

Also opening nationwide this weekend was another Warner Bros. release, the horror movie "Orphan," about a couple who adopts a little girl who's not nearly as sweet as she seems. It came in fourth place with $12.8 million.

Expanding in its second week of limited release, the Fox Searchlight romantic comedy "500 Days of Summer" made $1.63 million. Going from 27 screens to 85, it's grossed just over $3 million. The critical hit stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in an out-of-order tale of boy-meets-girl.

On the other end of the cinematic spectrum, the dominant movie of the summer, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," is now the 10th-highest grossing film of all time with just over $379 million. The Paramount sequel made $8 million this weekend, pushing it past 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which made just over $377 million.

Dergarabedian said movies like "Transformers," "Harry Potter" and the R-rated, surprise-hit comedy "The Hangover," which has now made over $247 million, have kept this summer's revenues right in line with 2008, when "The Dark Knight" was all the rage.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "G-Force," $32.2 million.

2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $30 million.

3. "The Ugly Truth," $27 million.

4. "Orphan," $12.8 million.

5. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $8.2 million.

6. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $8 million.

7. "The Hangover," $6.5 million.

8. "The Proposal," $6.4 million.

9. "Public Enemies," $4.2 million.

10. "Bruno," $2.7 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" started big on opening day Friday but had a huge drop the rest of the weekend, with the Universal Pictures mock documentary finishing with $30.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The movie took in nearly half of its weekend total _ $14.4 million _ on Friday, then tumbled with just $8.8 million Saturday and an estimated $7.2 million Sunday.

Revenues for hit movies typically go up on Saturday, so the nosedive for "Bruno" could be a sign that it lacks the shelf life that made Baron Cohen's "Borat" a $100 million smash.

"It is unusual for a film to drop on Saturday. Normally, you expect the film at least to be even on Saturday or above compared to Friday, because Saturday is the biggest moviegoing day of the weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's going to be interesting to see how it does over the long run."

"Bruno," which features Baron Cohen as a wannabe going to extremes to achieve celebrity, finished ahead of 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which took second with $28.5 million. The "Ice Age" sequel raised its domestic total to $120.6 million.

Finishing third after two weekends in the No. 1 spot was Paramount's sci-fi blockbuster "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with $24.2 million, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million. The sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007's "Transformers."

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" opened weakly with $5 million, finishing at No. 7. The movie centers on a high school valedictorian who uses his graduation speech to declare his love for a bombshell classmate (Hayden Panettiere).

"Bruno" outpaced the $26.5 million opening weekend for Baron Cohen's surprise 2006 hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." "Borat" started with $9.2 million on opening day Friday then climbed to $10.1 million Saturday, a sign that fans were talking it up to friends.

That good word-of-mouth propelled "Borat" to a long run at theaters, the movie climbing to a $128.5 million domestic total.

"Borat" also scored its big opening weekend in far fewer theaters. "Bruno debuted in 2,756 cinemas, more than three times the number for "Borat."

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal, said comedies such as "Bruno" typically drop off over opening weekend this time of year, while "Borat" opened in November, when audiences are less fickle than summer crowds.

The studio will have to wait until next weekend for a sense of how well "Bruno" can hold up for the long haul.

"I don't know. That crystal ball just isn't on my desk this morning," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "Zany comedies tend to be like that, so I'm hoping that in the scheme of things, it just plays out the way zany comedies will play out."

Reviews on "Bruno" were not as strong as those for "Borat," which critics generally liked. There also had been questions about whether Baron Cohen's flamboyantly gay persona might prove off-putting to audiences.

"Bruno" did most of its business in cities on the East and West coasts, while revenues were "softer, much softer in middle America," Rocco said.

Even if revenues continue to plunge, "Bruno" is well on its way to turning a profit for Universal, which paid $42.5 million for rights to distribute it domestically and in eight other territories. "Bruno" took in $25 million in overseas markets so far, including $20 million in those Universal acquired, among them Great Britain, Australia and Germany.

Modi Wiczyk _ co-chief executive officer of Media Rights Capital, which financed "Bruno" _ said the movie exceeded the company's expectations. Wiczyk said he had anticipated "Bruno" would finish in the range of $25 million domestically for the weekend.

"We don't have talking robots or karate in our film," Wiczyk said. "For that increasingly small subset of films that don't have robots, we did terrific."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Bruno," $30.4 million.

2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $28.5 million.

3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $24.2 million.

4. "Public Enemies," $14.1 million.

5. "The Proposal," $10.5 million.

6. "The Hangover," $9.9 million.

7. "I Love You, Beth Cooper," $5 million.

8. "Up," $4.7 million.

9. "My Sister's Keeper," $4.2 million.

10. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $1.6 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Final numbers Monday will sort out which movie actually came in first, Paramount's "Transformers" or 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age." Numbers reported during the weekend are estimates based on the studio's projections for how much business the movies will do on Sunday.

"I've seen squeakers before in my time, but never one like this," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

In past close finishes, studios have accused each other of inflating their Sunday estimates to gain first-place bragging rights, only to have another movie take the No. 1 spot once final numbers are reported the next day.

"This shows a lot of respect between the two studios," Dergarabedian said. "They're just saying `Look, as of right now, it's too close to call.'"

Universal's crime saga "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, debuted a solid No. 3 with $26.2 million.

It's rare when box-office rankings are so close, particularly in summer, when movies typically have huge opening weekends then trail off to make way for the next blockbuster.

But the action adventure "Transformers" held up well from its $109 million debut the previous weekend, while the animated sequel "Ice Age" packed in family crowds.

With a $293.5 million domestic total after just 12 days, "Transformers" shot past Disney and Pixar Animation's "Up" to become the year's highest-grossing movie. The sequel reunites human stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox with shape-shifting robots in a war against evil machines.

"Ice Age," the third installment in the cartoon franchise, brings back voice stars Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah as the gang of extinct animals encounter a lost world of dinosaurs underground. Since opening Wednesday, "Ice Age" has taken in $67.5 million.

Other studios generally were tracking "Transformers" and "Ice Age" within a few hundred thousand dollars of each other.

"It's just so close," said Bert Livingston, Fox distribution executive. "It all comes down to Sunday for us. We are elated to be in that rarefied air with one of the biggest event movies ever."

With the Fourth of July falling on Saturday, usually Hollywood's busiest day, revenues trailed off as people skipped movies to watch fireworks and go to cookouts or other outdoor activities.

"Public Enemies," starring Depp as 1930s gangster John Dillinger and Bale as FBI man Melvin Purvis, pulled in an audience of older adults who often do not pack theaters for summer's action tales, family flicks and comedies.

"We felt this was going to be the right moment to insert something with a little bit more substance into the mix," said Adam Fogelson, Universal's president of marketing and distribution.

"Up" reached a milestone of its own, its $6.6 million weekend lifting its domestic haul to $264.9 million, passing "The Incredibles" ($261.4 million) to become No. 2 on the Disney-Pixar hit list behind "Finding Nemo" ($339.7 million).

With $10.4 million, the Warner Bros. bachelor-party comedy "The Hangover" became the year's fourth movie to cross the $200 million mark, climbing to a domestic total of $204.2 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1 (tie). "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $42.5 million.

1 (tie). "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $42.5 million.

3. "Public Enemies," $26.2 million.

4. "The Proposal," $12.8 million.

5. "The Hangover," $10.4 million.

6. "Up," $6.6 million.

7. "My Sister's Keeper," $5.3 million.

8. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $2.5 million.

9 (tie). "Year One," $2.1 million.

9. (tie). "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," $2.1 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Warner Bros. comedy "The Hangover" hauled in $33.4 million to remain the top box-office draw for a second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The tale of a Las Vegas bachelor party gone to extremes raised its total to $105.4 million after 10 days in theaters. It was the summer's first movie to finish at No. 1 for two weekends in a row.

Disney's latest Pixar Animation hit, the action comedy "Up," came in a close second again with $30.5 million. That lifts the acclaimed animated film's total to $187.2 million.

Debuting at No. 3 with $25 million was Sony's action remake "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3." The thriller stars Denzel Washington as a dispatcher matching wits against John Travolta as the mastermind of a subway hijacking.

Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, said he was pleased with the results on "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" and that studio executives expect it to hold up well, since it drew mainly older viewers who do not rush out to see movies over opening weekend.

"Third place and happy about it," Bruer said.

Eddie Murphy delivered a dud with the Paramount family comedy "Imagine That," which debuted at No. 6 with a lackluster $5.7 million. The movie features Murphy as a work-obsessed dad whose daughter's three imaginary friends make him a financial whiz with their smart stock-market picks.

The overall box office was down sharply from the same weekend a year ago, when "The Incredible Hulk" led with a $55.4 million weekend. Total revenues this weekend came in at $140 million, off 22 percent from last year's, according to Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

It was the third straight weekend that studio receipts declined, continuing a slide that has chilled a red-hot year for Hollywood. Earlier in the year, revenues had surged by more than 15 percent compared to 2008, but the box office now is ahead by only 11 percent.

"The growth rate for the summer box office is stalled. Every week we're systematically dropping down," Dergarabedian said. "That doesn't mean things are terrible. It just means that compared to last year, it was a great weekend for a `Hangover' but not a great weekend for the industry."

A handful of new movies did well in limited release, including Francis Ford Coppola's drama "Tetro," which took in $31,339 in two theaters for a solid average of $15,670 a cinema. That compared to an $8,133 average in 3,074 theaters for "Pelham 1 2 3" and $1,895 in 3,008 cinemas for "Imagine That."

Released by Coppola's American Zoetrope studio, "Tetro" stars Vincent Gallo as an expatriate writer forced to reacquaint himself with a painful family history when his younger brother comes to visit.

Sony Pictures Classics' sci-fi tale "Moon" pulled in $145,218 in eight theaters for an $18,152 average. The film stars Sam Rockwell as a lonesome, homesick worker on the lunar surface whose grip on reality is challenged when a second version of himself appears.

Magnolia Pictures' documentary "Food, Inc." grossed $61,400 in three theaters for a $20,467 average. The film examines the downsides and health hazards of our mass-produced food chain.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Hangover," $33.4 million.

2. "Up," $30.5 million.

3. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $25 million.

4. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," $9.6 million.

5. "Land of the Lost," $9.2 million.

6. "Imagine That," $5.7 million.

7. "Star Trek," $5.6 million.

8. "Terminator Salvation," $4.7 million.

9. "Angels & Demons," $4.2 million.

10. "Drag Me to Hell," $3.9 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

The Warner Bros. comedy "The Hangover" drew larger audiences than earlier projected to raise its weekend ticket sales to $45 million, about $1.8 million more than the studio estimated Sunday.

That made it the No. 1 draw for the weekend instead of Disney and Pixar Animation's "Up," which came in second with $44.3 million. Sunday studio estimates had "Up" edging "The Hangover" by about $1 million.

It's rare that the first- and second-place movies on Sunday flip-flop when final numbers come out Monday. But strong attendance Sunday allowed "The Hangover" to pull ahead.

With heavy matinee traffic, family films such as "Up" usually hold on better through Sunday than adult movies like "The Hangover."

Warner Bros. had expected Sunday's NBA championship game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic to cut into business for the R-rated "The Hangover," the tale of four friends at an out-of-control bachelor party weekend in Las Vegas.

Yet more people turned up for the movie than anticipated, said Dan Fellman, Warner head of distribution.

"The Lakers weren't the only winners," Fellman said. "We had an unbelievable day."

Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta said the studio was happy to come in at No. 2 with "Up," whose final weekend total came in about $100,000 higher than the studio estimated Sunday.

"Up" has topped $137 million in just 10 days and is on track to become the latest $200 million blockbuster from Disney and Pixar, whose hits include "WALL-E," "The Incredibles," "Finding Nemo" and the "Toy Story" movies.

The haul was far less than the earlier Dan Brown adaptation "The Da Vinci Code" _ which earned $77.1 million when in opened in 2006 _ but still enough to topple the popular "Star Trek," according to studio estimates Sunday.

In its second weekend, Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek" took in $43 million, a strong number after its $75.2 million opening last weekend, excluding its Thursday midnight screenings. The cumulative total for J.J. Abram's reboot of the sci-fi franchise is $147.6 million.

Sony's "Angels & Demons" reunites Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard for the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code." It opened without the benefit of the buzz and controversy that propelled "The Da Vinci Code" to a $753 million worldwide total.

Overseas business was again strong for "Angels & Demons," which earned $104.3 million internationally. Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony, said the studio expects the film will eventually take in half a billion altogether in theatrical release.

"That chemistry (of Hanks and Howard) worked incredibly well with 'Da Vinci' and it looks like it's absolutely headed in that same vein, certainly on a lesser scale," said Bruer. "We never expected anything to the phenomenon of `Da Vinci.'"

Like "The Da Vinci Code," reviews were not illustrious for "Angels & Demons," but they were mostly better. Bruer called Brown's action-packed best-seller "a far more cinematic story" than "Da Vinci." In it, Hanks again plays Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon who's trying to prevent a series of murders at the Vatican.

"Sony positioned it well," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "They didn't try to say, `This is going to be "The Da Vinci Code."' It was actually quite the contrary. They tried to say this was not `Da Vinci Code,' that it was a different kind of movie."

"Angels & Demons" was the only new wide-release film of the weekend. Coming in third was "X-Men Originals: Wolverine," which earned $14.8 million in its third week, bringing its total to $151.1 million. The prequel to the "X-Men" franchise, starring Hugh Jackman as the mutant with metal claws, had a step drop-off in its second week.

On the whole, it was another robust weekend of business at movie theaters, which have been drawing large crowds throughout the recession. Dergarabedian pegs the year-to-date box office at a 16 percent increase over last year.

"We're headed toward a record breaking summer," said Dergarabedian. "If you've got a blockbuster in the pipeline, you're very happy about all the strength of the box office right now. Momentum is key in this business."

That's good news for the two blockbusters opening next weekend: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and "Terminator Salvation."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Angels & Demons," $48 million.

2. "Star Trek," $43 million.

3. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $14.8 million.

4. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," $6.9 million.

5. "Obsessed," $4.6 million.

6. "17 Again," $3.4 million.

7. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $3 million.

8. "The Soloist," $2.4 million.

9. "Next Day Air," $2.2 million.

10. "Earth," $1.7 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Paramount Pictures had estimated that the movie would make about $50 million for the weekend, but figured that strong reviews helped carry it to the bigger opening.

Director J.J. Abrams' reboot of the beloved sci-fi franchise made $72.5 million from Friday through Sunday, plus $4 million just in pre-midnight screenings Thursday, the studio said Saturday. That cumulative figure includes a record $8.2 million in IMAX showings.

"Star Trek," which reveals the back stories of Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, is an unusual blockbuster that pleased critics, too, receiving 96 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site.

"Last year 'The Dark Knight' and 'Iron Man' both were embraced by critics as incredible filmmaking as well as big action-adventure movies. This one has been even better reviewed," said Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore. "You look at the level of critical response and the audience reaction, we definitely feel like the movie is set to play into Memorial Day and into the summer."

Moore said he expected the movie, which had a $140 million budget, should gross over $200 million total this summer, even with competition like "Terminator: Salvation" coming on May 21 and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" arriving in theaters July 15.

Abrams got it right, he said, by appealing to both hardcore "Star Trek" fans as well as moviegoers who may not have been familiar with the 1960s television series and the many movies and TV spin-offs it spawned. It stars Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, and features an appearance by Leonard Nimoy as an older version of the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock.

"It just shows you how talented he is and what a great movie he made," Moore said.

"Star Trek" also beat the $6.3 million record "The Dark Knight" set in its opening weekend on IMAX screens last year.

"The DNA of this movie and the DNA of the `Star Trek' franchise work perfectly together and are very much a complement to what IMAX has accomplished," said Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "IMAX was a company that had a sort of older-school, older-fashioned approach to things and we hipped it up and reinvented ourselves, if you will. That's precisely what J.J. Abrams and Paramount did with 'Star Trek.'"

The fact that the "Star Trek" haul improved from $26.8 million on Friday to $27.4 million on Saturday is a good sign, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"Sometimes you will see a movie drop big-time," Dergarabedian said. "What this 'Star Trek' is going to have is legs, a rare commodity in this world where every week there's a new blockbuster."

As expected, last week's top film, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," came in at No. 2 with $27 million. The prequel to the "X-Men" franchise, starring Hugh Jackman as the mutant who slices and dices his enemies with his metal claws, has made nearly $129.6 million in two weeks.

"It's the same weekend drop as ('X-Men: The Last Stand'), the last one. That tends to be what fan-based movies do," said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox. "To have $130 million in the first 10 days is sensational. We think we withstood the attack of 'Star Trek,' if you will, and will settle into a long, successful run."

The week's other new wide release, the stoner comedy "Next Day Air," came in at sixth place with $4 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Star Trek," $72.5 million.

2. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $27 million.

3. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," $10.45 million.

4. "Obsessed," $6.6 million.

5. "17 Again," $4.4 million.

6. "Next Day Air," $4 million.

7. "The Soloist," $3.6 million.

8. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $3.4 million.

9. "Earth," $2.5 million.

10. "Hannah Montana: The Movie," $2.4 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Audiences weren't deterred from watching "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" on the big screen despite a full-length version of the superhero prequel clawing its way online last month.

The 20th Century Fox movie grabbed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $87 million opening, toppling the first two "X-Men" films _ but not the third, according to studio estimates Sunday.

While copies of the work print, which Fox said was "without many effects, had missing and unedited scenes and temporary sound and music," continue to appear on several file-sharing Web sites, movie-goers still lined up to see how the feral "X-Men" bad boy played by Hugh Jackman was first outfitted with his razor-sharp paws.

"I started watching it online but didn't finish because it didn't have any of the special effects," Jason Nguyen said outside of the AMC Burbank 16 before a Friday show. "It seemed like something you would just watch on the DVD after seeing the real movie. I just didn't think watching that would compare to watching the finished one with all the special effects."

Another movie-goer, Christina Ruiz, said outside the Pacific Theatres Glendale 18, that she didn't think watching a movie on the Internet "really compares to watching it in a movie theater, and just because you watch something online doesn't mean you're not going to go to the movies. It's different."

"I really liked the first `X-Men' movies and went to see them with all of my friends," Ruiz said.

FoxNews.com chief entertainment columnist Roger Friedman and the Fox News organization "mutually agreed to part ways immediately" after Friedman boasted about watching the movie's leaked version at his desk.

"It took really less than seconds to start playing it all right onto my computer," Friedman wrote in his Fox 411 column on FoxNews.com last month. "I could have downloaded all of it but really, who has the time or the room? Later tonight I may finally catch up with Paul Rudd in `I Love You, Man.' It's so much easier than going out in the rain!"

After the work print was leaked, studio co-chairman Tom Rothman told Entertainment Weekly the pirated version was "about 10 minutes shorter" than the complete theatrical version. But the running time for the theatrical version _ 107 minutes _ was exactly the same.

"If they watch (the leaked work print), will they get the story? Sure, but there are 400 visual-effects shots that aren't complete and Harry Gregson-Williams' score isn't in the movie," director Gavin Hood said. "So I almost want to say, `Why did you do this to yourself? You're such a fan of Wolverine, why do you want to see something that isn't ready?'"

Other than the completed effects and sound, possibly the biggest difference between the two versions are secret endings. Hood said two different post-credit "Easter egg" scenes play on separate prints. The leaked work print's final scene stars Wolverine, but another ending exists that features the film's villain.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this story.

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Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba's "Obsessed" debuted as the top weekend movie with $28.5 million in ticket sales. The Sony Screen Gems thriller stars Knowles and Elba as a couple whose ideal marriage lands on the rocks after a psychotic temp played by Ali Larter begins stalking the husband.

The strong opening for "Obsessed" helped maintain Hollywood's hot streak, with overall revenues at about $112 million, up 23.5 percent from the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

The busy summer season starts Friday with 20th Century Fox's spinoff "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," starring Hugh Jackman in the title role he played in three "X-Men" blockbusters.

Studios head into summer on a box-office tear, with receipts running at a record pace. Revenues for the year are at $3.06 billion, up 17.4 percent over last year. Factoring in higher ticket prices, movie attendance is up 15.7 percent.

"We have never been in this strong a position heading into the summer season, ever," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

Zac Efron's "17 Again" and Channing Tatum's "Fighting" were neck-and-neck for the No. 2 spot. With Sunday estimates of $11.7 million, the Warner Bros. comedy "17 Again" had the edge. After debuting in first-place a week earlier, "17 Again" raised its 10-day total to $40 million.

Rogue Pictures' "Fighting," starring Tatum and Terrence Howard in the story of a rising star in New York City's underground bare-knuckle fight circuit, debuted with $11.4 million.

The two movies were close enough that rankings could change when final numbers come out Monday.

Paramount's drama "The Soloist" opened at No. 4 with $9.7 million. It stars Jamie Foxx as a schizophrenic music prodigy living on the streets of Los Angeles and Robert Downey Jr. as a reporter who befriends him.

Disney's nature documentary "Earth" premiered in fifth place with $8.6 million, bringing its total to $14.2 million since opening Wednesday.

"Obsessed" was not screened in advance for critics, and those who reviewed it generally trashed the movie as a lame retread of 1987's "Fatal Attraction," which starred Glenn Close as a demented woman pursuing a married man, played by Michael Douglas.

But "Obsessed" had the lure of singer Knowles stepping out from her pop star image and duking it out with the crazy lady threatening her home and marriage.

"There's something about wanting to see Beyonce kick butt. She's taking on one wacked chick, played very well by Ali Larter," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "Let's face it, everyone loves Beyonce, and to see her in this role is a treat."

Documentaries rarely open in nationwide release or break into the top 10, but Disney aimed for a wide audience with "Earth," which traces families of polar bears, elephants and humpback whales over the course of a year.

Disney pledged to plant a tree for every viewer who sees the movie in the first week, with the number climbing to more than 2 million after five days. The film was tied to Earth Day and was the first release of the studio's Disneynature label.

"We just felt like if we make an event out of this, tied it to this whole plant-a-tree effort, tied it to Earth Day, maybe we could break the mold and come up with the kind of opening that you'd be satisfied with on a regular film," said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Obsessed," $28.5 million.

2. "17 Again," $11.7 million.

3. "Fighting," $11.4 million.

4. "The Soloist," $9.7 million.

5. "Earth," $8.6 million.

6. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $8.5 million.

7. "State of Play," $6.9 million.

8. "Hannah Montana: The Movie," $6.4 million.

9. "Fast & Furious," $6.1 million.

10. "Crank: High Voltage," $2.4 million.

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

DreamWorks Animation's action comedy "Monsters vs. Aliens," which features creatures from 1950s flicks in a showdown with invading extraterrestrials, launched itself into the No. 1 spot with a $58.2 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was the biggest debut so far in 2009, topping the $55.2 million first weekend of "Watchmen" in early March.

Opening in second place was Lionsgate's ghost story "The Haunting in Connecticut" with $23 million in ticket sales.

The previous weekend's top movie, Summit Entertainment's apocalyptic thriller "Knowing," slipped to third with $14.7 million, raising its 10-day total to $46.2 million.

The big opening for "Monsters vs. Aliens" boosted Hollywood revenues after a couple of down weekends. Movies overall pulled in about $148 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

For the year, revenues have reached $2.38 billion, up 12 percent from 2008's, according to Media By Numbers. Accounting for this year's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is up 10.4 percent.

Hollywood historically weathers recessions well given the relative low cost of movies compared with other entertainment such as concerts or sports events. But the declining revenues of the previous two weekends showed that audiences will not run out to just any old flick, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"The recession offers a framework from which movies can do well for people looking to escape," Dergarabedian said. "But they have to want to escape to these movies. The appeal has to be there, and it clearly was for `Monsters vs. Aliens.'"

Reese Witherspoon leads the cast of "Monsters vs. Aliens," providing vocals for a woman who grows to nearly 50 feet after an encounter with a meteor. The voice cast also includes Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert.

"Monsters vs. Aliens" was the latest success story for digital 3-D projection. While the 2,080 3-D screens accounted for just 28 percent of the roughly 7,300 on which the movie played, they made up 56 percent of its total box-office haul, said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

Tickets for 3-D movies typically cost a few dollars more than the 2-D version.

"Audiences donned 3-D glasses in the biggest way ever," Globe said. "`Monsters vs. Aliens' serves as valuable proof of concept for the next generation of 3-D."

The company plans to offer 3-D versions of all of its future animated films, including next year's "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Shrek Goes Fourth," the third sequel to the blockbuster ogre franchise.

Other upcoming 3-D releases this year include Pixar Animation's "Up" and James Cameron's sci-fi adventure "Avatar."

Large-screen IMAX theaters showing "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3-D accounted for $5.2 million of the movie's overall grosses. Those 143 IMAX theaters represented only about 2 percent of the screens on which the movie played but contributed 9 percent of its total box office.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $58.2 million.

2. "The Haunting in Connecticut," $23 million.

3. "Knowing," $14.7 million.

4. "I Love You, Man," $12.6 million.

5. "Duplicity," $7.6 million.

6. "Race to Witch Mountain," $5.6 million.

7. "12 Rounds," $5.3 million.

8. "Watchmen," $2.755 million.

9. "Taken," $2.75 million.

10. "The Last House on the Left," $2.6 million.

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Summit Entertainment's supernatural thriller "Knowing," which stars Cage as an astrophysics professor who figures out how to predict monumental catastrophes, debuted as the No. 1 movie at the weekend box office with $24.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Knowing" easily foiled "I Love You, Man" and "Duplicity," the other films opening in wide release. "I Love You, Man" was second with $18 million and "Duplicity" was third at $14.4 million.

The victory was another affirmation for Summit Entertainment, the small studio behind the vampire saga "Twilight," which opened last year with more than $69 million and went on sale Saturday on DVD after fans lined up at midnight.

Richie Fay, the studio's president of domestic distribution, said there are several reasons for the studio's successes.

"We've got great creative talent at the studio, veterans on the marketing side and I've got a few years under my belt on the distribution side," said Fay. "It's the right people coming together at the right time. We're lean and mean, but we pack a punch. We can deliver on all levels. With the DVD coming out so well, we're obviously a fully functioning studio."

The "bromantic" comedy "I Love You, Man" attracted equal numbers of men and women, according to the studio. It stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel

"I think the movie debuted at expectations," said Don Harris, Paramount's vice president of distribution. "We had the advantage of opening at the beginning of college and high school spring break, so the audience for this film is going to continue to be available. We think the movie will have good legs. There are no other comedies coming out for the next couple of weekends, so that bodes well for the film."

The weekend's other major debut, Universal's romantic comedy "Duplicity," was written and directed by "Michael Clayton" director Tony Gilroy and stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen as romantically entangled former spies who scheme to steal millions of dollars from their rival pharmaceutical companies.

"I liken 'Duplicity' to cinematic fine dining," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "I think 'Knowing' and 'I Love You, Man' were more like fast food. They were fun and easy. 'Duplicity' was just a little bit more of a challenging film for audiences. I think audiences were looking for a different kind of escapism."

Factoring in 2009's higher admission prices, the box office total was down 5 percent compared with last year, the second straight weekend of decline.

Dergarabedian doesn't believe the decline indicates the end of an otherwise stellar year at the box office, however, saying next weekend's debut of Dreamworks' "Monsters vs. Aliens" should be strong.

"Being only 12 weeks into the year, every weekend makes a huge difference," said Dergarabedian. "We're still doing great this year, but it just shows you that the business is extremely cyclical. I'm not ready to signal any kind of doom and gloom just yet. We have 'Monsters vs. Aliens' opening Friday, and I think that will get us back on track."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Knowing," $24.8 million.

2. "I Love You, Man," $18 million.

3. "Duplicity," $14.4 million.

4. "Race to Witch Mountain," $13 million.

5. "Watchmen," $6.7 million.

6. "The Last House on the Left," $5.9 million.

7. "Taken," $4.1 million.

8. "Slumdog Millionaire," $2.7 million.

9. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," $2.5 million.

10. "Coraline," $2.1 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

The PG-rated sci-fi flick starring Dwayne Johnson as a cab driver with a pair of alien teenagers along for the ride topped the R-rated superhero epic "Watchmen," which earned $18.1 million in its second week.

Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group, said analysts had predicted that "Race to Witch Mountain," director Andy Fickman's re-imagination of the 1975 live-action film "Escape to Witch Mountain," would fly away with $20 million or less. Now he expects this "Witch Mountain" to maintain a high orbit in theaters with kids on spring break.

"I think audiences this weekend were really drawn to the action adventure of 'Race to Witch Mountain,'" said Zoradi. "There was also this element of parents over 30 who remembered the original and were drawn to this one, so I think that combination is what helped us exceed what folks in the industry thought this movie was going to do."

Ticket sales for "Watchmen" plummeted 67 percent from last weekend's $55.2 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution, said the studio anticipated the big dip for director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of subversive superheros.

"It's very common with higher profile, highly anticipated movies," said Goldstein.

Also opening this weekend in wide release was "The Last House on the Left," the Universal horror remake, which turned up at No. 3 with $14.7 million in ticket sales, and "Miss March," the Fox Atomic comedy in the No. 10 spot with $2.4 million. 20th Century Fox's thriller "Taken" remained at No. 4 with $6.7 million in its seventh weekend in theaters.

Factoring in 2009's higher admission prices, the weekend box office total was down 16 percent compared with last year, making it the first down weekend in six weeks. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers, does not believe the shift signals the end of 2009's otherwise stellar year at the box office.

"I don't think this down weekend reflects any kind of lack of interest by the audience," Dergarabedian said. "I think it has to do with 'Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who' opening a year ago with $45 million. That's really a tough comparison. Not every weekend this year is going to be up when you have some strong openings like that from last year."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Race to Witch Mountain," $25 million.

2. "Watchmen," $18.1 million.

3. "The Last House on the Left," $14.7 million.

4. "Taken," $6.7 million.

5. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," $5.1 million.

6. "Slumdog Millionaire," $5 million.

7. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," $3.1 million.

8. "He's Just Not That Into You," $2.9 million.

9. "Coraline," $3.3 million.

10. "Miss March," $2.4 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Seem counterintuitive?

Observers say struggling people are looking for a $10, two-hour escape.

"The movies offer a way to go not only outside of your house, but to a whole different world -- and that's very appealing right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst at Hollywood.com.

Audiences are going along for that ride in record numbers. Gross movie ticket sales to this weekend were up 18.8 percent over the same period last year, to $1.66 billion, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Box offices saw their best January in history this year, with more than $1 billion in gross sales.

Jeremy Kay, a blogger for the UK newspaper The Guardian, used that news to predict that this will be the biggest year for ticket earnings in the history of Hollywood.

"If you look at what's coming up over the next 10 months it seems reasonable to assume this year will be the biggest we've seen," he wrote on the site's film blog.

Analysts say the recession also is likely to affect the types of movies being made by Hollywood, how they're made and what will succeed.

Based on recent successes, there's evidence to suggest studios will continue to focus on comedies and action films.

Of the top five top-grossing movies of 2009, three -- "Mall Cop," "He's Just Not That into You" and "Bride Wars" -- are comedies. One, "Hotel for Dogs," is a family movie, and "Taken," so far the No. 2 film in terms of sales, is an action film about a kidnapping.

And films such as "Mall Cop" are winning big with viewers despite some scorn from critics. The film, which stars Kevin James as a crime-fighting, Segway-riding security guard, is so far the No. 1 grossing film of the year, with an estimated $121.4 million in sales since it opened in mid-January.

'You lose where you are'

But films like "Mall Cop" could succeed in any financial climate, said Jeanine Basinger, a film historian and chairwoman of the film studies department at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

People always have turned to movies during hard times, Basinger said, but it's oversimplifying to say light or funny narratives will succeed in a recession and serious subject matter won't.

"Films are a good form of entertainment during a recession because you can sit back and -- sad or happy -- you lose where you are and you go into the movie," she said.

It's also difficult to say whether certain types of films will be made because of the recession, she said. It can take years for a movie to make it from studio approval to theaters -- and in that time, a lot can change.

There's no better recent example of this than "Confessions of a Shopaholic," Dergarabedian said.

The movie was based on a successful series of books, the first of which came out in 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom. But the film -- with a trailer that shows a spendthrift young woman piling up credit card debt until her card is declined at a high-end boutique -- opened with a disappointing $15.07 million on Presidents Day weekend.

The film didn't work because it hit too close to home with viewers, Dergarabedian said.

He says only movies that turn away from financial realities will succeed during the recession. His case in point: "Friday the 13th," a slasher remake, earned a gross $40.57 million the same weekend "Confessions of a Shopaholic" debuted, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

"If Jason is scaring the crap out of you, you can't really be thinking about your mortgage, you know?" Dergarabedian said.

Going to 'serious downer movies'

Basinger disagrees. During the Great Depression and World War II, films were true to current events and succeeded with viewers, she said.

People sought escapist fare during those times, she said, but they also "went to serious downer movies about the situation they were in, too, because they were trying to understand them."

Other analysts look further back into history for evidence that hard times could stir up creativity in the film industry.

In the same way the Great Depression sparked creativity and influenced the Golden Age of film, today's filmmakers may use hard times for inspiration, said Erin Trahan, managing editor at The Independent magazine, which covers the indie film industry.

"There may be a burst of quality of products, in a way," she said. "Anytime there's financial stress, people become more creative."

The cost of making films is down, she said, which may lead to some ambitious projects. But, she added, people who already have made films may have a hard time getting them distributed.

'Depression proof'

But Gerald Peary, a documentary filmmaker and critic in Boston, Massachusetts, said the recession means fewer movies will be made.

"It's a romantic myth that having no money is good for movie making," he said.

Peary said the recession will kick off an era of stupid movies -- since those are the ones that are sure to succeed with downtrodden audiences on smaller budgets.

"The dumber the movie is, sometimes, the more money it makes," he said. "Those movies are somehow both critic proof and depression proof."

Basinger, the film historian, said it's too soon to identify any firm trends involving movies and the recession besides the fact that more people will go to see them. Where they'll see them is up for debate. The venue may be the theater, it may be on a cell phone, she said.

The recession, she added, is likely to speed up changes in the way people view and create films. It's a healthy process, she said.

"The history of the motion picture is a history of constantly shifting venues; and here's what happens: Film never dies, it keeps going," she said.

But she still sees the movie theater experience as the cheapest and fullest way to abandon your troubles and lose yourself in a story.

"Movies are a great form of escape because you enter a darkened place and surrender to something that's bigger than you," she said.

By John D. Sutter
CNN.COM

That's a particularly impressive feat for a male-baiting film whose key audience has had plenty of distractions during this national football holiday frame. To be sure, the movie drew an A- CinemaScore review from a crowd that was nearly three-fifths men and 70 percent over the age of 25 -- an almost exact mirror of the big game's core demographic.

For Neeson, who hasn't starred in a major Hollywood release since 2005's "Batman Begins" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (to which he lent his voice), this is a nice turn of events, indeed: The $24.6 million premiere is the fifth best of his career, and, really, the top debut ever for a flick featuring him as a solo lead star.

Certainly, "Taken's" weekend sum could decrease slightly after the Super Bowl is played tonight and the actual final Friday-to-Sunday box office figures are calculated, but the film has no chance of falling out of first place. That's because its next closest competitor was two-time champ "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," which brought in $14 million and fell to No. 2. With $83.4 million in the bank to date, the Kevin James comedy is basically assured of becoming the first 2009 release to gross $100 million.

"The Uninvited" (No. 3) was next, with a decent $10.5 million -- exactly the kind of first-weekend number that all Asian horror remakes seem to get these days. "Hotel for Dogs" (No. 4 with $8.7 million) and "Gran Torino" (No. 5 with $8.6 million) rounded out the top five. (At $110.5 million and counting, "Gran Torino" is now the top-grossing movie of Clint Eastwood's career.)

And the other big new release, the Renee Zellweger comedy "New in Town" -- the kind of female-friendly counterprogramming that studio bigwigs typically expect to do well on weekends like this -- got little love at No. 8, earning just $6.8 million.

Among Best Picture nominees, "Slumdog Millionaire" once again fared best, banking $7.7 million at No. 6, while all the others fell outside of the top 10 (i.e. they all banked less than about $3.7 million a piece). That result is a tad disappointing for "The Reader" and "Milk," as both movies expanded somewhat wide this weekend (they grossed $2.4 million and $1.4 million, respectively).