Boogeyman, Ghost House Pictures' follow-up to lastyear's debut release The Grudge, capitalised on horror's mass appeal with anestimated $19.5m number one opening.
Trailing someway behind in second place on $11m was Gold Circle's romantic comedy TheWedding Date, released in domestic theatres through Universal.
Boogeyman stars Barry Watson and Emily Deschaneland concerns the tale of a young man who returns home following his father'sdeath to face a childhood fear.
Stephen T Kay'spicture averaged $6,389 on 3,052 screens but drew dire reviews.
In TheWedding Date, which alsofailed to impress the critics, Debra Messing plays an unmarried woman whoemploys the services of a professional escort to accompany her to her youngersister's wedding. Dermot Mulroney also stars.
Clare Kilner'slatest picture averaged $6,493 from 1,694 and also stars Jack Davenport.
Both films aresold in international territories by Joe Drake's Mandate Pictures.
Last week'schampion Hide And Seekfell three places to fourth on $8.9m for $35.7m in its second weekend, whileParamount's comedy Are We There Yet' slipped one place to third in its third weekend on $10.4mfor $51.1m.
The leadingOscar contenders maintained their presence in the top 10. Warner Bros' MillionDollar Baby slid two tofifth on $8.8m for $34.7m in its eighth weekend, one place ahead of TheAviator, released in theUS through Miramax, which stayed in sixth and added $5.4m for $75.9m after thesame amount of time.
FoxSearchlight's Sidewaysstayed in eighth place and raised its running total by $4.8m to $46.8m after 16weekends. It overtook The Full Monty this weekend to become Searchlight's biggest ever grosser.
Early estimatessaid the top 12 titles grossed a combined total of $91m, a strong showing forSuper Bowl weekend when people typically stay at home and watch the game. Byway of comparison the top 12 pictures during last year's Super Bowl weekendgrossed $73.4m.
Next weekend'swide releases includes Sony's romantic comedy Hitch starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes; andBuena Vista's family animated movie Pooh's Heffalump Movie.
Estimated TopTen US Feb 4-6 2005
Film(Distributor)/International distribution/Estimated weekend gross/Estimatedtotal to date
1 (-) Boogeyman (Sony/Ghost House Pictures) MandatePictures $19.5m -
2 (-) The WeddingDate (Universal) MandatePictures $11m
3 (2) Are WeThere Yet'(Columbia/Revolution) SPRI $10.4m $51.1m
4 (1) HideAnd Seek (Fox) Fox Int'l$8.9m $35.7m
5 (3) MillionDollar Baby (WarnerBros) Warner Bros Int'l $8.8m $34.7m
6 (6) TheAviator (Miramax)Initial Entertainment Group $5.4m $75.9m
7 (4) MeetThe Fockers (Universal)DreamWorks Int'l $5m $265.3m
8 (8) Sideways (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int'l $4.8m $46.8m
9 (7) RacingStripes (Warner Bros)Summit Entertainment $4.4m $40.5m
10 (5) CoachCarter (Paramount) UIP$4.4m $59.5m
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