Disney's fairy-tale romantic comedy "Enchanted" opened with an estimated 35.3 million US dollars at the top of box office in US and Canadian theaters over the customary three-day weekend period, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.

File photo shows actress Amy Adams during a photocall to promote her film "Enchanted" in Madrid, October 25, 2007. "Enchanted" opened with an estimated 35.3 million US dollars at the top of box office in US and Canadian theaters over the customary three-day weekend period.

Meanwhile, the film's 50-million-dollar take over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday period starting Wednesday gave it the second-biggest Thanksgiving holiday opening in the history, just behind "Toy Story 2" in 1999.

"Enchanted" tells a story about a cartoon princess who is exiled from the fairyland to real-world New York and finds out new meanings of life and love. The film pays tribute to many of Disney's classic cartoon princesses like "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty."

The extended holiday weekend box office period started Wednesday and ended Sunday.

"This Christmas," a song-filled holiday flick from Sony's Screen Gems, debuted in second place with 18.6 million dollars over the three-day weekend and 27.1 million dollars over the five-day period.

Paramount's 3-D animated tale of "Beowulf," starring Angelina Jolie, remained in the top tier at third place with 16.2 million dollars over the three-day weekend after claiming the top spot last weekend. The effects-rich film, which uses action-capture technology to render lifelike images of actors, has taken in 56.4 million over two weeks.

"Hitman," a video-game adaptation released by 20th Century Fox, debuted in fourth place with 13 million dollars over the weekend and 21 million dollars during the holiday period, followed by DreamWorks Animation's "Bee Movie" in fifth with 12 million dollars.

The top-selling 12 films took in an estimated 218 million dollars in total ticket sales over the five-day holiday period, up six percent from that during the same period a year ago and helping reverse the downtrend that Hollywood have seen in the past two months.
 
(CRI.cn November 26, 2007)