According to The Hollywood Reporter, as expected, Universal's Meet the Fockers took first place in the boxoffice race during the first official weekend of the new year, taking in a stellar estimate of $28.5 million while slipping a slim 32% in its third session. The blockbuster comedy sequel, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, shot past the $200 million mark Sunday as the cume-to-date moved to an estimated $204.3 million -- making it the sixth-highest-grossing release in 2004. But what wasn't expected was the big splash made in the second spot by the distributor's Michael Keaton starrer, White Noise, a low-budget supernatural thriller from Gold Circle Films, which conjured up an estimated $24 million.

White Noise was the only wide release this weekend, and industry observers thought it would open in the $12 million-$15 million range. With Universal having films in the top two spots -- with a combined gross of $52.5 million -- the distributor tapped a controlling 53% of the boxoffice total for the weekend's top 12 films. The last time the studio had films in first and second place in the same weekend was in April 2000, with U-571 and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

Dont't forget to also check out: Meet the Fockers, White Noise

Meet the Fockers was released December 22nd, 2004.

White Noise was released January 7th, 2005 and stars Michael Keaton, Chandra West, Deborah Kara Unger, Ian McNeice, Sarah Strange, Nicholas Elia, Mike Dopud, Marsha Regis. The film is directed by Geoffrey Sax.