(Oct. 5) - "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was barking up the right tree with movie-goers, who put the Disney comedy at No. 1 for the weekend with a $29 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Featuring a talking Chihuahua with Drew Barrymore's voice, the family flick about a pampered pooch lost in Mexico led a surge of new movies that boosted Hollywood business, which generally has slumped the last two months.
The top-12 movies hauled in $95.4 million, up 42 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "The Game Plan" was No. 1 with $16.6 million.
"We had a huge weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "That's really due to the little Chihuahua. The little dog made a big difference."
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'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'
The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the DreamWorks-Paramount thriller "Eagle Eye," slipped to second-place with $17.7 million, raising its total to $54.6 million.
The PG-rated "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" took advantage of a long drought for movies aimed at families, who found the idea of a chatty Chihuahua irresistible.
"They're so cute, and they seem to have great facial expressions, so that adds to all the fun of the whole thing," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution.
Hollywood's other new wide releases had fair to poor premieres.
Sony's "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings as teens who fall for each other on a wild New York City night, had a sturdy No. 3 debut of $12 million.
The Warner Bros. Western "Appaloosa," which had played two weeks in a handful of theaters, expanded solidly to come in at No. 5 with $5 million. "Appaloosa" was directed by Ed Harris, who stars with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger.
Vivendi Entertainment's "An American Carol," a satire of Hollywood's liberal politics from director David Zucker ("Airplane!"), debuted at No. 9 with $3.8 million. The movie stars Kevin Farley as a Michael Moore-type filmmaker aiming to abolish the Fourth of July holiday.
Universal's "Flash of Genius," starring Greg Kinnear as the engineer who invented intermittent windshield wipers then spent decades suing automakers over the innovation, opened weakly with $2.3 million, finishing at No. 11.
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1. 'Rachel Getting Married'
Playing a deeply troubled drug addict sprung from rehab for her sister's wedding, Anne Hathaway bursts out of her Disney 'Princess' cocoon and morphs into a mature, complex Oscar-caliber actress right before our eyes. Severe emotional damage has never been so attractive. -- Tom DiChiara
2. 'Religulous'
Bill Maher takes blasphemy to new heights in this controversial doc that finds him on a globetrotting quest for answers about organized religion. Atheists and agnostics will cheer, those "mildly" religious will find it thought-provoking, and the deeply devout will be deeply offended. Bonus: It's directed by 'Borat' helmer Larry Charles, and there's not a naked Ken Davitian in sight. -- Kevin Polowy
3. 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
It's cheesier and more teen-targeted than movies like 'Juno' and 'Superbad,' but this charming, 90-minute meet-cute will make you fall in love with stars Michael Cera (again) and Kat Dennings. It's also a nifty love letter to the New York City music scene, as its young couple moves from one venue to the next searching for a surprise show by their favorite band. -- Kevin Polowy
4. 'Flash of Genius'
A movie about the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper doesn't sound like Oscar bait or a crowd pleaser -- but somehow it's both. And that's due to Greg Kinnear's sometimes funny, often heartbreaking performance as Robert Kearns, the inventor of the aforementioned device, who boldly takes on Ford for stealing his creation. Genius? We think so. -- Tom DiChiara
5. 'Choke'
A movie about a Colonial-era theme-park attendant (the superb Sam Rockwell) who trolls sex-addiction meetings for easy women, cons people out of their money by pretending to choke at restaurants, and just might be the scientifically engineered son of Jesus Christ may sound hard to swallow. But it's a dark, deeply hilarious treat that goes down smooth as butter. -- Tom DiChiara
6. 'Burn After Reading'
The Coen Brothers' follow-up to 'No Country for Old Men' has little of that film's profundity. But what it lacks in emotional heft and philosophical depth, it makes up for in entertainment -- most of which is derived from stars Brad Pitt, George Clooney and John Malkovich hamming it up as three very different men with one thing in common: They're idiots. -- Tom DiChiara
7. 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'
The reviews won't be kind, and really, they shouldn't. But if you're seeing this live-action talking-animals flick, you're not expecting a nuanced portrait of the plight of immigrant dogs. Take it for what it is -- a family film as insubstantial as its tiny little heroine, a pampered princess pup voiced by Drew Barrymore -- and let the kids have their laughs. -- Angie Argabrite
8. 'The Duchess'
It's hard to fault Keira Knightley for doing so many period pieces when she's so damned good in them. As the Duchess of Devonshire, trapped in a loveless marriage to a duke (the superb Ralph Fiennes) obsessed with producing a male heir, she expertly embodies a woman who's fragile and fierce, romantic and realistic. The cleavage-enhancing corsets are just gravy. -- Tom DiChiara
9. 'Appaloosa'
Director Ed Harris won't reinvent the Western with this simple, unhurried story of two hired guns trying to bring order to an 1880s frontier town -- but he doesn't need to. After all, most Westerns aren't blessed with dialogue this witty, or with a cast comprising Harris, the excellent Viggo Mortensen and a delightfully evil Jeremy Irons. Saddle up and enjoy the ride. -- Patricia Chui
10. 'Ghost Town'
In this quiet comedy that evokes wistful smiles rather than guffaws, Ricky Gervais is delightful as a snippy dentist whose brush with death grants him the unwanted ability to communicate with needy ghosts. The living-must-help-the-dead plot's been done, well, to death, but the performances and dialogue are pitch-perfect, and it's fun to watch the tubby funnyman fall in love. -- Raven Snook
Two other movies, the comedy "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" and the apocalyptic "Blindness," both bombed.
Miramax's "Blindness," featuring Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Mark Ruffalo in a nightmare tale about a plague of sightlessness, took in just $2 million, averaging an anemic $1,185 in 1,690 theaters.
"How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," released by MGM and starring Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg in a celebrity satire set at a slick magazine, did $1.4 million in 1,750 theaters for a feeble $801 average.
By comparison, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" averaged $9,020 in 3,215 theaters; "Nick and Norah" pulled in $4,957 in 2,421 locations; "Appaloosa" did $4,799 in 1,045 cinemas; "An American Carol" took in $2,325 in 1,639 sites; and "Flash of Genius" did $2,120 in 1,098 theaters.
In narrower release, Bill Maher's documentary "Religulous" opened well, placing No. 10 with $3.5 million in 502 theaters, averaging $6,972. The Lionsgate release follows Maher as he travels the world to mock one of his favorite topics, organized religion.
Anne Hathaway's "Rachel Getting Married" had a strong start in limited release, taking in $302,934 in nine theaters for a whopping $33,659 average. The Sony Pictures Classics drama stars Hathaway as an addict who leaves rehab to come home for her sister's wedding and forces her family to relive the anguish of past tragedy.
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. "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," $29 million.
2. "Eagle Eye," $17.7 million.
3. "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," $12 million.
4. "Nights in Rodanthe," $7.4 million.
5. "Appaloosa," $5 million.
6. "Lakeview Terrace," $4.5 million.
7. "Burn After Reading," $4.08 million.
8. "Fireproof," $4.07 million.
9. "An American Carol," $3.8 million.
10. Religulous, $3.5 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.
