Fantastic Four surfs away with weekend

Los Angeles - The surf was way up at the multiplexes this weekend.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer easily rose to the number one spot at the box office, earning $58.1 million in ticket sales Friday through Sunday, according to distributor 20th Century Fox.

Starring Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans as the titular team of dysfunctional Marvel Comics superheroes who face off with the powerful longboard-favoring, world-destroying alien, the PG-rated sequel rode in slightly ahead of the 2005 original, which tallied $56.1 million.

"We beat the first movie, which is really something to crow about," studio spokesman Chris Aronson told E! Online. "It really worked on all levels, from ages 8 to 80, and in certain respects overperformed."

Despite some not so fantastic reviews, Fantastic Four averaged a whopping $14,663 per theater at 3,959 sites (tops among wide releases) and knocked last week's champ, Ocean's Thirteen, down a notch. The George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon-led caper scored $19.7 million for Warner Bros. in its second weekend, down 45 percent from its opening, according to Exhibitor Relations. Its total stands at $69.8 million.

Coming in third place was Knocked Up, which spawned $14.1 million over the weekend to raise its three-week haul to $90.5 million. Strong word of mouth has translated into steady business (receipts were down just 28 percent from last week), and box-office analysts expect the film to crack the $100 million barrier by next weekend.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End continued its plundering, grabbing $12.4 million in its fourth week. Its total domestic booty is now $273.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was another surf-themed flick, only this one focused on a bunch of wave-happy computer-animated penguins. Sony's Surf's Up generated $9.3 million, down 48 percent from its opening, for a two-week take of $34.7 million.

Another 'toon remained among the top grossers: DreamWorks' blockbuster Shrek the Third gobbled up $9 million in its fifth week for a domestic gross of $281.5 million, ensuring the studio will have no qualms about plans to make at least two more installments.

Meanwhile, the weekend's other major newcomer, Nancy Drew, only managed to sleuth up $7 million in seventh place.

In limited release, the quirky Eagle vs. Shark, billed as New Zealand's answer to Napoleon Dynamite, didn't really explode in its North American debut. The Miramax comedy averaged a modest $6,787 at three sites for just $20,361.

However, Irish director John Carney's musical Once, which won this year's Sundance Audience Award for World Cinema, continues to perform well in limited release. Now playing in 120 theaters, the story of two street musicians who fall in love tallied $538,000 over the weekend for a total of $2.5 million.

Here's a rundown of the top-grossing weekend films, based on studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, $58.1 million

2. Ocean's Thirteen, $19.7 million

3. Knocked Up, $14.1 million

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, $12.4 million

5. Surf's Up, $9.3 million

6. Shrek the Third, $9 million

7. Nancy Drew, $6.8 million

8. Hostel: Part II, $3 million

9. Mr. Brooks, $2.9 million

10. Spider-Man 3, $2.5 million