Talking dog tops US film box office

12:42am Monday 13th October 2008

An adorable talking dog remained just the sort of escapist movie hero audiences wanted after a week of awful economic news.

Disney's family comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua, with Drew Barrymore providing the voice of the dog, was the number one film for the second-straight weekend with 17.5 million US dollars (£10.28 million), raising its 10-day total to 52.5 million dollars (£30.84 million), according to studio estimates.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is the only light comedy in a market heavy on drama. Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution, said movie-goers may be turning to the film to help forget the market free-fall on Wall Street. "This is only word-of-mouth coming back to us from theatres. I don't have any statistical proof. But they're telling us we're getting more unaccompanied-by-children adults coming on their own. They're looking for a little entertainment," Mr Viane said.

The weekend's number two movie - the fright film Quarantine, which debuted with 14.2 million dollars (£8.34 million) - filled the escapism needs for the horror crowd. The Sony Screen Gems release centres on a contagion that turns an apartment building's tenants into flesh-hungry monsters.

The top drawer trio of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott had to settle for third-place with their terrorism thriller Body of Lies, which had a 13.1 million dollar (£7.69 million) debut. The Warner Brothers film centres on a CIA operative hunting the terrorist responsible for bombings around the world.

The weekend's other new releases, Universal's football drama The Express and 20th Century Fox's family fantasy City of Ember, opened weakly.

The Express - starring Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid in the story of Ernie Davis, the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy - came in at number six with 4.7 million dollars (£2.76 million).

City of Ember, with Tim Robbins and Bill Murray in a post-apocalyptic adventure set in an underground realm, took in 3.2 million dollars (£1.88 million) to finish at number 10.

Keira Knightley's historical saga The Duchess climbed into the top 10 as it expanded nationwide after three weekends in limited release. The Paramount Vantage drama, which stars Knightley as an 18th century aristocrat stuck in a loveless marriage, pulled in 3.32 million (£1.95 million) to place at number nine.

Two British movies started well in limited release. Guy Ritchie's London crime romp RocknRolla opened with 141,000 dollars (£83,000) in seven theatres. The Warner Brothers release features Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton and Tom Wilkinson heading an ensemble cast. And Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, a Miramax release starring Sally Hawkins as a woman whose eternal optimism is continually challenged, premiered with 80,000 dollars (£47,000) in four theatres.