BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: Paul Blart: Mall Cop Dominates the Box Office with $33.8 Million

Weekend Box Office:

1) Paul Blart: Mall Cop $33.8 million
2) Gran Torino $22.2 million
3) My Bloody Valentine 3-D $21.9 million
4) Notorious $21.5 million
5) Hotel for Dogs $17.7 million
6) Bride Wars $11.7 million
7) The Unborn $9.8 million
8) Defiance $9.2 million
9) Marley & Me $6.3 million
10) Slumdog Millionaire $5.9 million

With five brand new movies in contention for that coveted number one spot on the weekend box office charts, its was Kevin James' latest comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop that conquered all. Produced by Adam Sandler, this stunt-filled Die Hard in a mall offered the comedian a chance to prove himself as a leading man on screen. And it worked. With such a great turnout, we will undoubtedly see more work from James in the future.

The rest of the top five was a knockout, drag-down fight amongst four newcomers and one cranky old man. It was Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino that dominated the pack, pulling itself up to another $22.2 million in second place. Tight on its ass was the horror remake My Bloody Valentine 3-D, which nabbed a pretty healthy take of $21.9 million for third. And the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious didn't do so poorly for itself either. It came in a close fourth with $21.5 million. Landing in five place was the kid friendly Nickelodeon stray mutt comedy Hotel for Dogs, which earned $17.7 million. Chandni Chowk to China was the big loser of the weekend, as it opened in 26th place with just $651,000. Though, it did only open on 150 screens.

Next week promises to be another bloody catfight as another six brand new movies open in direct competition with each other. We'll get the sequel Underworld 3: The Rise of The Lycans, Liam Neeson in Taken, the children's novel adaptation Inkheart, the long shelved Mickey Rourke thriller Killshot, the fourth in the Six-Shooter series Donkey Punch, and the aliens meet Vikings slash-em-up Outlander. It sounds like there's something for everyone, so it's basically anybody's game. Which is too bad for Kevin James. He is going to have to fight pretty hard to stay in that top spot for a second weekend in a row.