The combination of comedian Will Farrell and NASCAR made Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby the clear winner at the weekend box office with an estimated total of $47 million.  The NASCAR setting, which had already peddled its 'mettle' with Pixar's Cars, the second highest grossing film of 2006 so far with $237.5 million, proved to be a major boost for Ferrell providing a 50% bigger opening than the actor's previous comedic vehicle, Anchorman.

Paramount's Barnyard, which opened a little stronger than predicted with an estimated $16 million, took the second spot, but had to share the potential audience for CGI animated features with Monster House ($6 million in its third weekend) and The Ant Bully ($3.9 million in its second).  Familiarity may not be breeding contempt for computer-animated comedies, but it appears audiences are getting a lot more options for this sort of film as all the major studios are releasing them, which could mean trouble for new incarnations of past CGI blockbusters such as Shrek (we will find out next May).

Liongate's horror film, The Descent, had the fright film audience all to itself and earned an estimated $8.8 million, while registering the second highest per screen average ($4200) of any film in wide release.  It should be interesting to see if this film, which has benefited from a strong marketing campaign, can maintain momentum over the next few weeks.

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned an estimated $11 million bringing its total to nearly $380 million.  While POC: DMC is a cinch to make the coveted $400 million mark, its 47% drop and third place finish this past weekend indicate that it probably won't get far beyond $400 million.

Superman Returns fell to fourteenth place, earning $2.2 million and bringing its total to $190.2 million.  Supes will have to suck it up to reach $200 million and matching or surpassing Batman Begins' $205 million would appear to be a stretch at this point.

Kevin Smith's Clerks II fell to seventeenth, but still managed to add $1.3 million bringing its total to $22.3 million, which, given its $5 million budget, means that it is a solid moneymaker for MGM.  It could end up with close to $30 million from its theatrical run and remains ahead of the superhero pastiche, My Super Ex-Girlfriend.