Meet The Fockers Tops X-mas Box Office

"Meet The Fockers," the star studded sequel to Meet The Parents," topped the Christmas weekend box office in its first week of release, earning $44.7 million. "Fat Albert," the live action version of the animated television series from the 70s and 80s was a distant second in its opening week in the face of extremely negative reviews. The earnings for the Christmas weekend were down significantly from last year owning primarily to 2 factors - the absence of a strong blockbuster like last year's "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" and the fact that Christmas day fell on a Saturday this year.

Estimated ticket sales for Dec. 23-26

1. “Meet the Fockers,” $44.7 million
2. “Fat Albert,” 12.7 million
3. “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” $12.5 million
4. “The Aviator,” $9.4 million
5. “Ocean’s Twelve,” $8.6 million
6. “Darkness,” $6.4 million
7. “The Polar Express,” $6.3 million
8. “Spanglish,” $5 million
9. “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” $4.8 million
10. “Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera,” $4.2 million