Big Dawg

Beverly Hills Chihuahua came out on top of a very crowed field over the weekend.

Pamela McClintock of Variety:

The weekend box office was a lesson in extremes as Disney's family pic "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" happily yapped its way to $29 million opening on one end and Lionsgate's irreverent Bill Maher docu "Religulous" got off to an impressive start on the other.

Disney pic, playing in 3,215 runs, scored one of the best openings ever for October.

All told, there were a record seven new wide releases, plus "Religulous," which only opened on 502 screens. Docu grossed an estimated $3.5 million for a per location average of $6,972, the best of any film on the top 10 chart after "Chihuahua" ($9,020), according to Rentrak.

Sony Pictures Classics' Anne Hathaway family drama "Rachel Gets Married" also got off to a strong start. Pic scored a per location average of $33,659 in grossing an estimated $302,934 from nine theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Overall, the weekend was up roughly 40% over the same weekend last year in a welcomed surge for the film biz.

Among the new wide releases, Sony's "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" enjoyed the next-best opening after "Chihuahua, grossing an estimated $12 million from 2,421 runs.

Still, that wasn't enough to beat DreamWorks/Paramount holdover "Eagle Eye," which came in second in its soph sesh. "Nick and Nora," which cost $13 million to produce, came in on the low end of expectations; most had expected it to do better than "Eagle Eye."

"Eagle Eye" declined a slim 39% to an estimated $17.7 million from 3,516 runs for a 10-day cume of $54.6 million.

Warner Bros./Village Roadshow romantic drama "Nights in Rodanthe" also held well, coming in No. 4 and declining 45% to an estimated $7.3 million from 2,702 runs for a cume of $25 million.

Warners also took the No. 5 spot with Viggo Mortensen-Renee Zellweger-Ed Harris Western "Appaloosa," which grossed an estimated $5 million from 1,045 runs as it opened nationwide after a two-week exclusive run. Oater logged a per screen average of $4,799.

"Religulous" wasn't the only new release with cultural and political overtones. Vivendi's Michael Moore spoof "An American Carol" opened to an estimated $3.8 million from 1,639 runs to come in No. 9.

Christian-themed holdover "Fireproof," from Samuel Goldwyn Films, placed No. 8 in its second sesh, declining just 40% to an estimated $4 million from 852 runs for a per location average of $4,776 and a cume of $12.5 million.

Elsewhere, there was carnage. Universal and Spyglass' "Flash of Genius," Miramax's "Blindness" and Brit pic "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," released by MGM, couldn't even make the top 10 list in their debuts.

"Flash of Genius," fully financed and produced by Spyglass, grossed an estimated $2.3 million from 1,098 theaters for a per location average of $2,120.

"Blindness" grossed an estimated $1.2 million from 1,690 runs for a per location theater of $1,185.

Produced and financed by Autonomous Films, "How to Lose" grossed $1.4 million from 1,750 runs for a paltry per location average of $801.

Interesting that the mini-battle between political right An American Carol and left "Religulous" gave both sides reason to cheer....

Nicole Sperling of EW:

Disney's pups wear the weekend box office crown, followed by ''Eagle Eye'' and ''Nick and Norah''