According to The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Gems' horror entree Underworld: Evolution sat in the top spot in its debut weekend, far and away from the rest of the boxoffice field, sinking its teeth into a sterling estimate of $27.6 million. The opening for the vampire- and werewolf-filled sequel, which brought back Kate Beckinsale and director Len Wiseman for a second turn, surpassed the $21.8 million debut of the original Underworld. The R-rated Evolution, co-produced with Lakeshore Entertainment, exceeded expectations heading into the frame; most industry observers projected an opening in the $20 million-$25 million range. After a close race between Buena Vista Pictures' Glory Road and the Weinstein Co.'s Hoodwinked during the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday session -- the two films switched places when the final numbers came in last week, with Glory on top and a scant $48,000 separating the two pictures -- it wasn't as close this weekend.

With the absence of broad new rollouts, Buena Vista International's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe went unchallenged for the fifth straight weekend as the No. 1 grosser internationally, yielding an estimated $13.3 million at 7,067 screens and throwing off a cumulative boxoffice of $342.6 million to date.

The weekend was notable for the strong showings of Sony Pictures Releasing International's Fun With Dick & Jane and Memoirs of a Geisha. The latter took second place with a weekend estimate of $10.3 million for an international cume to date of $34 million, while Dick & Jane placed third with an estimated $8.6 million in 31 territories at 2,165 screens. Its cume to date is $28.7 million. Geisha, which is handled by various distributors internationally, finished No. 1 in these markets: Spain, with a weekend estimate of $2.5 million at 208 screens; Singapore, with $550,000 at 36 screens; and in Malaysia, $255,000 at 33 screens. With the Chinese New Year holiday period arriving next week, attendance is likely to pick up sharply for Geisha in Asian markets. BVI reports a Japanese market cume for Geisha of $12 million to date.

Underworld: Evolution was released January 20th, 2006 and stars Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, Steven Mackintosh, Shane Brolly, Brian Steele. The film is directed by Len Wiseman.