Other new offerings from Hollywood were greeted with less enthusiasm. The sports comedy The Comebacks debuted with an estimated $2.1M which was far below the opening day tally for Fox's last spoof comedies Epic Movie and Date Movie which each grossed $6.7M in its first day in theaters. For the Friday-to-Sunday period, look for The Comebacks to collect roughly $6M.

The Ben Affleck-directed mystery Gone Baby Gone took in an estimated $1.9M for Miramax on Friday and should find its way to about $6M over the weekend too, but from 1,100 fewer playdates. The re-release of Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas grossed an estimated $1.8M. Should it play out the same way as this weekend last year when it was also re-introduced into theaters for the Halloween season, the Tim Burton pic will end up with $4-5M over three days.

New Line's political thriller Rendition starring Reese Witherspoon opened with an estimated $1.4M on Friday and looks to inch its way to roughly $4M for the whole frame. Fellow Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry also saw disappointing results for her latest drama Things We Lost in the Fire which debuted with an estimated $500,000 on its way to $1-2M for the weekend.

Among holdovers, Friday-to-Friday declines were 55% for Why Did I Get Married?, 20% for The Game Plan, and 33% for Michael Clayton.

For a review of Elizabeth: The Golden Age and NEW DVD reviews of Transformers, Planet Terror and A Mighty Heart visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Sunday for the complete weekend box office report.