‘Night at the Museum’ debuts as No. 1 at weekend movie box office

“Night at the Museum”, a family fun flick , which stars Ben Stiller topped the box office in the United States and Canada over the Christmas holiday weekend, knocking out Rocky Balboa and Will Smith, according to box office estimates released Sunday.

The new Ben Stiller comedy “Night at the Museum” was the top choice for North American moviegoers , according to weekend sales estimates issued by the studios on Sunday.”Museum,” which stars Ben Stiller as a security guard at New York’s Museum of National History where the displays come to life at night, raked in an estimated 30.8 million dollars, said box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. The film marks the second biggest opening for a Stiller vehicle, after “Meet the Fockers,” which opened with 46.1 million dollars in 2004.

Final figures for the Friday-to-Sunday holiday weekend are to be released Monday, when several movies will debut or go into wide release across the market, including horror film “Black Christmas” and the musical movie “Dreamgirls.”

Last week’s winner, Will Smith-starred “the Pursuit of Happiness” slipped to the number two spot this weekend with an estimated 15 million dollars. The film based on the true story of a homeless single father who eventually becomes a successful stockbroker has brought in some 53.3 million dollars since it debuted last week.

The sixth installment in Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” series placed third this weekend with about 12.7 million dollars after debuting in theaters on Wednesday.

Stallone, who wrote and directed the movie, stars as the aging Italian Stallion who comes out of retirement to compete against current heavyweight champ Mason “the Line” Dixon. “Rocky” has brought in about 22.4 million dollars since Wednesday.

“The Good Shepherd,” starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, debuted in fourth place about 10 million dollars. The drama, directed by Robert DeNiro, tells the story about the birth of the CIA.

“Charlotte’s Web,” based on the beloved E.B. White novel about the friendship between a talking spider and a pig named Wilbur, slipped two spots to the fifth slot with about 8 million dollars.

The Christmas weekend’s top 12 films grossed an estimated 111.3million dollars, about 10.5 percent more than last year’s take of 100.7 million dollars.

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