Another Touchdown For "The Game Plan"

Chalk up a victory for family fun versus the more ribald fare typically dished out by the Farrelly brothers.

"The Game Plan," a Disney tale of a quarterback whose bachelor life is unexpectedly complicated by a 7-year-old budding ballerina, remained box office champion for the second weekend in a row, raising its total to $42.8 million.

The comedy stars ex-wrestler and one time college football player Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "The Closer" star Kyra Sedgwick as a tough-talking agent, and Madison Pettis, who at age 11, is a veteran of both "Barney" and the Disney Channel, currently playing Sophie on "Cory in the House."

Two more familiar faces on hand: Roselyn Sanchez of "Without a Trace," and Gordon Clapp, seen last year in "Flags of Our Fathers" but better known as Det. Greg Medavoy on "NYPD Blue."

In "Game Plan," he's a coach.

2Following "Game Plan" at a great distance, coming in No. 2 at the box office this past weekend, was "The Heartbreak Kid," directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, best known for their 1998 smash hit, "There's Something About Mary."

An update of the 1972 comedy written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May, "The Heartbreak Kid" stars Ben Stiller as a man who marries an incompatible bride, then meets the perfect woman on his honeymoon.

"Heartbreak" pulled in what is considered to be a modest $14 million during its opening weekend.

Paramount and DreamWorks had expected more from "Heartbreak" and had gotten positive reactions from audiences at advance screenings. But reviews for "The Heartbreak Kid," says DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan, came in much harsher than expected,.

"We were surprised," says Sullivan. "The reviews hurt us. We love the movie. We've seen it play great. But I think reviews do matter on an R-rated movie."

"The Heartbreak Kid" did manage to come in slightly ahead of the $13.7 million first weekend of "There's Something About Mary," which lingered in theaters for months and became one of 1998's top hits at $176.5 million.

3Movies hung around longer then, but today's films tend to live or die based on their opening weekends, analysts said. That bodes ill for "The Heartbreak Kid," which would need to hold strongly in coming weeks to make good on its $60 million plus production budget.

"The shelf life of films is so much shorter today than it was ten years ago," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "You have to make your mark early to sustain yourself in today's marketplace."

"The Heartbreak Kid" also played much wider - 3,229 theaters, about 1,000 more than "There's Something About Mary," which still managed to pack in far more viewers. Based on today's higher ticket prices, "There's Something About Mary" pulled in nearly 3 million people over opening weekend, compared to just over 2 million for "The Heartbreak Kid."

In limited release, George Clooney's acclaimed legal drama "Michael Clayton" opened strongly with $704,000 in 11 theaters, a promising lead-in for the film's nationwide rollout Friday.

Released by Warner Bros., "Michael Clayton" stars Clooney as an attorney at a huge Manhattan law firm dealing with personal financial ruin while trying to salvage a class action case for a corporate client.

Overall revenues were down for the third-straight weekend, with the top-12 movies taking in a meager $65.7 million, off 35 percent from the same weekend last year.

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. "The Game Plan," $16.3 million.

2. "The Heartbreak Kid," $14 million.

3. "The Kingdom," $9.3 million.

4. "Resident Evil: Extinction," $4.3 million.

5. "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising," $3.7 million.

6. "Good Luck Chuck," $3.5 million.

7. "Feel the Noise," $3.4 million.

8. "3:10 to Yuma," $3 million.

9. "The Brave One," $2.3 million.

10. "Mr. Woodcock," $2 million.