Three other debut movies premiered in the top ten list, with the heavily- marketed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" coming in at second place, with an estimated $17.3 million in North American receipts.
Two debuting movies with heavily-ideological themes both came in with very-low numbers: "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," starring Ben Stein, opened in ninth place with $3.2 million in sales.
The film had been heavily marketed to church and religious groups, similar to the blockbuster "The Passion of Christ," but has been panned by critics as a heavy-handed "conspiracy theory rant."
And "Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?" opened in 16th place, with $143,000 in sales for the Weinstein Co. documentary.
Rounding out positions 3-10 are:
-- "Prom Night," Sony/Screen Gems, $9.1 million this weekend, $32.6 million over two weeks;
-- "88 Minutes," Sony/Tristar, $6.8 million in its debut weekend;
-- "Nim's Island," Fox, $5.7 million this weekend, $32.9 million over three weeks;
-- "21," Sony/Columbia, $5.5 million this weekend, $70 million over four weeks;
-- "Street Kings," Fox Searchlight, $4 million this weekend, $19.9 million over two weeks;
-- "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," Rocky Mountain, $3.2 million in its debut weekend; and
-- " Leatherheads," Universal, $3 million this weekend, $26.6 million over three weeks.
