The Box-Office Top Five

#1 "Horton Hears a Who" ($45.1 million)
#2 "10,000 B.C." ($16.4 million)
#3 "Never Back Down" ($8.6 million)
#4 "College Road Trip ($7.9 million)
#5 "Vantage Point" ($5.4 million)

The monstrous opening of "Cloverfield" couldn't do it. Neither could Katherine Heigl's "27 Dresses," last weekend's "10,000 B.C.," or even the mighty "Hannah Montana." Instead, the biggest opening of 2008 so far belongs to a rhyming doctor deceased for two decades and a story that insists "a person's a person, no matter how small."

"Horton Hears a Who" continued the streak of Dr. Seuss, Hollywood's hottest screenwriter, with a $45.1 million opening over the weekend. Following on the heels of Jim Carrey's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and Mike Myers' "The Cat in the Hat," the computer-generated cartoon brought Carrey back to Who-ville, this time alongside the vocal talents of Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Carol Burnett. The story of an elephant, a speck of dust and having the bravery to speak out against those around you (originally published shortly after the McCarthy hearings), "Horton" ranks as the fifth-biggest G-rated opening of all time. It was also Carrey's best weekend since 2003's "Bruce Almighty."

Standing a few steps behind "Horton" and last weekend's champion, "10,000 B.C.," is Sean Faris, presumably flexing his abs while declaring that he'll "Never Back Down." The junior fight-club flick tells the story of a high school kid who joins an underground martial-arts club, then pretends he's never seen "The Karate Kid" as a veteran instructor (Djimon Hounsou) shows him the ropes. The $20 million film took in $8.6 million over the weekend, only about $3 million less than the real "Fight Club" snagged when it opened.

The top five is rounded out by two films that are holding remarkably well, the Martin Lawrence family flick "College Road Trip," and the gimmick-embracing political thriller "Vantage Point." The two movies have now grossed $24.3 million and $59.2 million, respectively.

The only other new film in the top 10 is director Neil Marshall's "Doomsday," an apocalyptic action thriller about a small group of people trying to save the human race. Mind-bogglingly unavailable to the geek press who had hoped to screen it in advance, the film still received good reviews from many major Web sites, but it appears to have been too late. You know you have problems when the biggest star in your movie is Bob Hoskins, and sure enough, the low-wattage flick was only able to draw in $4.7 million.

Upcoming Releases

Next weekend brings us the newest family-friendly cup of chicken soup from Tyler Perry's soul, "Meet the Browns." It will compete against the horror flick "Shutter" and Owen Wilson's comedy "Drillbit Taylor." Meanwhile, "Horton" will no doubt attempt to prove once again that a weekend's a weekend, no matter how huge.

Check out everything we've got on "Horton Hears a Who," "10, 000 B.C." and "Drillbit Taylor."

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