'Dolphin Tale' swims to No. 1 spot

LOS ANGELES (AP):

A dolphin has dethroned The Lion King at the weekend box office.

The Warner Bros family film Dolphin Tale held up well with US$14.2 million in its second weekend to take the No. 1 spot from The Lion King, the Disney reissue that had been the top movie for the past two weekends.

The Lion King slipped to third place with US$11.1 million, just behind Sony's Brad Pitt baseball tale Moneyball, which was No. 2 in its second weekend with US$12.5 million, according to studio estimates yesterday.

Dolphin Tale features Harry Connick Jr, Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman in a real-life story about strangers who team up to help an injured dolphin. The movie had debuted a week earlier at No. 3, closely behind The Lion King and Moneyball, but it earned good word-of-mouth that kept fans coming.

"There's just something about a dolphin," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner Bros. "It just looks interesting, and it looks wholesome and compelling and fun."

The three holdover films held off a rush of new wide releases. In a photo finish for the No. 4 spot were Summit Entertainment's cancer comic drama 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, with US$8.85 million and Sony's Christian-themed police drama Courageous with US$8.8 million.

Debuting at No. 6 with US$8.2 million was Universal's Dream House, a fright flick starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts. The weekend's other new wide release, the 20th Century Fox romantic comedy What's Your Number? starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans, flopped at No. 8 with US$5.6 million.

It was an unusual weekend when carry-over films continued to rule the market, with family crowds particularly strong.

"Normally, fall is when you get Oscar contenders and R-rated, more-challenging films," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "But now looking at Lion King and Dolphin Tale, that says summer is not the only time when family audiences want to go to the movies."

Dolphin Tale raised its total to US$37.5 million, while Moneyball lifted its domestic haul to US$38.5 million. The Lion King has pulled in US$79.7 million in its 3-D re-release, adding to the nearly US$800 million worldwide the animated blockbuster earned in its original 1994 run and a 2002 reissue.