The video game-based Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg, topped the weekend box office with an estimated $18 million as the top ten films posted a 12% gain over their counterparts a year ago when 30 Days of Night earned $16 million in its chart-topping first frame.  While Max Payne’s opening was better than most of Wahlberg’s recent efforts, it was somewhat less than the $23 million that greeted the most recent screen version of the game-based Resident Evil.  In spite of its potent debut, Max Payne might not have very long legs; it earned just a “C” score from its mostly male audience (Sony’s horror film Quarantine, which scored a “C” last week dropped 55.7% in its second week).

Beverly Hills Chihuahua fell just 36% in its third frame, finishing second, earning an estimated $11.2 million and bringing its cumulative to $69 million.  This Disney family film has a solid chance to reach the “Century Club” by earning over $100 million.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (Studio Estimates): Oct. 17-19, 2008

Fox Searchlight’s The Secret Life of Bees finished in third place in its opening frame earning an estimated $11.1 million.  The film, which stars Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys, did particularly well with African American women and earned the highest per theater average ($6,945) of any film in the top ten. 

Another new film, Oliver Stone’s W., a biopic based on the life of President George W. Bush, also bettered expectations with a $10.5 million opening and finished in fourth place.  W. attracted older viewers, 47% of the audience was over 40 and the crowd was almost evenly split between men and women.  While the film only cost $25 million to make, and it might play well overseas where Bush is especially unpopular--its Cinemascore of “C” doesn’t bode very well for any sort of major success at the domestic box office.

The Dark Knight is still showing in 290 theaters and it brought in another $425,000, bringing its cumulative to $527.4 million.