BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: Clint Eastwood Drives His Gran Torino Into First Place with $29 Million

Weekend Box Office:

1) Gran Torino $29 million

2) Bride Wars $21.5 million

3) The Unborn $21 million

4) Marley & Me $11.3 million

5) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $9.4 million

6) Bedtime Stories $8.5 million

7) Valkyrie $6.6 million

8) Yes Man $6.1 million

9) Not Easily Broken $5.6 million

10) Seven Pounds $3.9 million

In an amazing feat, director Clint Eastwood has pulled his Gran Torino past newcomers Bride Wars and The Unborn, parking it in the number one spot with $29 million. This is the biggest weekend in Eastwood's career as both an actor and a director. Though the film was released in limited theaters December 12th, the drama cruised into 2,808 theaters this past weekend. And it was definitely the must see event of January. So far, the film has made a total of $40 million.

Second place was a close race run by the only two new major contenders out there. The chick friendly Bride Wars, which stars Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as two best friends fighting over their wedding date, won the coveted spot, pulling in an estimated $21.5 million. But David Goyer's ghost thriller The Unborn was hot on its tail. The spooky flick earned a close $21 million for third place.

Opening in 724 theaters, Not Easily Broken dropped into the number nine spot, earning a nice $5.6 million. Starring Morris Chestnut as a man ready to quite his marriage, the film was helped along by Tyler Perry's strong endorsement. The film with the highest per screen average this weekend was Defiance for the second week in a row. Playing in just two theaters, the action drama earned $66,000, taking a hefty $33,000 from each of its screens.

Box office competition will be fierce next week as My Bloody Valentine 3-D, Notorious, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Hotel for Dogs, and Chandni Chowk to China all open against each other in wide release. Not to mention Defiance will be getting distributed to more theaters. My money is on the security guard.