Fox's comedy sequel Big Momma's House 2 stole the show at the North American boxoffice over the weekend and opened top on an estimated $28m, almost double thegross of Universal's debutant Nanny McPhee in second place.

Last weekend's champion Underworld: Evolution fell two places to third in its secondweekend on $11.1m for $44.3m.

Touchstone Pictures' naval academy drama Annapolis opened fourth on a disappointing $7.7m,while The Matador, ablack comedy jointly handled by The Weinstein Co and IFC Films, broke into thetop 10 after expanding wide in its fifth weekend.

Rounding out the top five was The Weinstein Co's animated title Hoodwinkedon $7.4m for $37.7mafter seven weekends.

Overall box office for the top 12 pictures amounted to anestimated $99m compared to $104m for the same weekend last year.

Martin Lawrence reprises his role as an undercover FBI agent in BigMomma's House 2, whichovercame poor reviews to surpass the $25.7m launch of the 2000 original.

It averaged $8,586 on 3,261 screens and becomes the third biggestJanuary debut ever behind Star Wars (Special Edition) on $35.9m in 1997 and Black Hawk Down on $28.6m in 2002.

Nanny McPhee, the big UK hit written by and starring Emma Thompson as amagical nanny, opened to excellent reviews in second place on $14.1m. ColinFirth also stars in the film which averaged $7,060 on 1,995 screens.

Annapolisstars James Franco as an underprivileged youngster who achieves his goal ofattending the celebrated academy. It averaged $4,802 on 1,605 screens.

The Matador stars Pierce Brosnan as a disillusioned assassin whostrikes up a profound friendship with a traveling salesman played by GregKinnear. In its fifth weekend the acclaimed picture climbed 18 places to 10thon $3.8m for a total of $5.5m.

Brokeback Mountain fell one place to sixth and passed $50m in its eighth weekend asthe Focus Features hit added $6.4m for $50.8m. It should stick around for awhile and is likely to receive another boost this week when the Oscarnominations are announced on Tuesday.

The Chronicles Of Narnia is on its way out following a terrific run that has seen itamass more than $277m in eight weekends. It fell three places to ninth.

Next weekend is Super Bowl weekend, a time when theatregoingtypically takes a rest while the eyes of the nation are focused on the premierAmerican football event of the year. The wide releases are Sony's When AStranger Calls starringCamilla Belle; Lionsgate's A Good Woman starring Helen Hunt; and Focus Features' Something New, which stars Sanaa Lathan and SimonBaker.

Estimated Top Ten North America Jan 27-29 2006

Film (Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend

gross/Estimated total to date

1 (-) Big Momma's House 2 (Fox) Fox Int'l $28m -

2 (-) Nanny McPhee (Universal) UIP $14.1m -

3 (1) Underworld: Evolution (Screen Gems) SPRI $11.1m $44.3m

4 (-) Annapolis (Touchstone) BVI $7.7m -

5(2) Hoodwinked (Weinstein Co) CMG$7.4m $37.7m

6 (5) Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features) Focus Features $6.4m $50.8m

7 (3) Glory Road (Buena Vista) BVI $5.2m $34.8m

8 (4) Last Holiday (Paramount) UIP $4.8m $32.6m

9 (6) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And TheWardrobe

(Buena Vista/Walden Media) BVI $4.4m $277.8m

10 (28) TheMatador (The WeinsteinCo/IFC FIlms) Syndicate Films $3.8m $5.5m