Wonka Wins Weekend With $56.2M Debut

LOS ANGELES - Candyman Willy Wonka topped the weekend box office as Johnny Depp and
Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" debuted with $56.2 million.

Opening in second place was Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn's comedy "Wedding Crashers" with $33.9 million.

Both films did slightly better than their studios had estimated on Sunday. The strong debuts paced Hollywood to its second-straight weekend of rising revenues after a slump that lasted nearly five months.

The top 12 movies took in $155.7 million, up 10.5 percent from the same weekend last year.

The top 20 movies at North American 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 Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Nielsen EDI Inc.:

1. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Warner Bros., $56,178,450, 3,770 locations, $14,901 average, $56,178,450, one week.

2. "Wedding Crashers," New Line, $33,900,720, 2,925 locations, $11,590 average, $33,900,720, one week.

3. "Fantastic Four," 20th Century Fox, $22,783,303, 3,619 locations, $6,295 average, $100,195,795, two weeks.

4. "War of the Worlds," Paramount, $15,244,749, 3,724 locations, $4,094 average, $192,435,922, three weeks.

5. "Batman Begins," Warner Bros., $6,035,300, 2,810 locations, $2,148 average, $183,140,850, five weeks.

6. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," 20th Century Fox, $5,234,822, 2,370 locations, $2,209 average, $168,276,570, six weeks.

7. "Dark Water," Disney, $4,609,754, 2,657 locations, $1,735 average, $18,885,278, two weeks.

8. "Herbie: Fully Loaded," Disney, $3,619,074, 2,481 locations, $1,459 average, $55,966,221, four weeks.

9. "Bewitched," Sony, $2,556,432, 2,290 locations, $1,116 average, $57,026,688, four weeks.

10. "Madagascar," DreamWorks, $2,308,169, 1,779 locations, $1,297 average, $184,083,054, eight weeks.

11. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," 20th Century Fox, $1,703,393, 988 locations, $1,724 average, $373,926,219, nine weeks.

12. "March of the Penguins," Warner Independent, $1,515,059, 132 locations, $11,478 average, $4,011,328, four weeks.

13. "Rebound," 20th Century Fox, $1,293,760, 1,033 locations, $1,252 average, $14,517,002, three weeks.

14. "Cinderella Man," Universal, $982,305, 747 locations, $1,315 average, $58,913,425, seven weeks.

15. "The Longest Yard," Paramount, $951,318, 1,012 locations, $940 average, $154,391,858, eight weeks.

16. "Crash," Lions Gate, $428,624, 275 locations, $1,559 average, $51,379,460, 11 weeks.

17. "Mad Hot Ballroom," Paramount Classics, $416,802, 180 locations, $2,316 average, $5,363,384, 10 weeks.

18. "Me and You and Everyone We Know," IFC Films, $357,847, 97 locations, $3,689 average, $1,425,216, five weeks.

19. "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D," Miramax, $328,552, 657 locations, $500 average, $37,717,364, six weeks.

20. "Monster-in-Law," New Line, $298,395, 302 locations, $988 average, $81,514,658, 10 weeks.