By Franck Tabouring
Weekend of October 3 – 5, 2008

Walt Disney Pictures’ family adventure “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” took an easy lead at the North American box office this weekend with $29 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Raja Gosnell’s film about a spoiled chihuahua ending up astray in Mexico had no problems taking over the No. 1 spot from last week’s box office winner “Eagle Eye,” which finished strong in second place.

D.J. Caruso’s action thriller starring Shia LaBeouf took home another $17.7 million, reaching a domestic total of $54.6 million after only two weeks in release. Released by DreamWorks, the film follows a slacker and a single mom who are framed as terrorists and forced to participate in a political assassination.

Debuting in third place with $12 million was Peter Sollett’s “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which stars Michael Cera and Kat Dennings as two young adults who spend an incredibly chaotic night together in New York City.

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Friday marked a great start at the box office for Raja Gosnell’s family flick “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” which took the No. 1 spot with $7.8 million in ticket sales.

Last week’s champ “Eagle Eye” slipped to second place but still went strong, pulling in $5.5 million. D.J Caruso’s Shia LaBeouf action vehicle reached a domestic total of $42.4 million.

Debuting in third place with $4.4 million was Peter Sollett’s “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” a romance in which Michael Cera and Kat Dennings spend a turbulent night together in New York City.

Ed Harris’ western “Appaloosa” expanded over the weekend, climbing all the way to No. 5 with $1.5 million. The film made slightly less than George C. Wolfe’s “Nights in Rodanthe,” which tool home $2.4 million in fourth place.

Four the other three wide releases, it didn’t look that well Friday. “Blindness” ranked 11th with $750,000, while “Flash of Genius” only collected $720,000 at No. 12. The biggest disappointment was Simon Pegg’s new comedy “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People,” which picked up $460,000.

Even Bill Maher’s “Religulous” performed better at only 502 locations, earning $1.1 million in tenth place.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)