"Marley and Me" tops Christmas weekend box office in North America

Cast members Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson pose at the premiere of the movie "Marley & Me" at the Mann Village theatre in Westwood, California December 11, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 25.

Hollywood is enjoying a happy ending for 2008 as a slew of movies featuring A-list stars helped lure economically frustrated audiences into theaters during the Christmas holiday weekend.

"Marley and Me," a dog tale comedy from 20th Century Fox and starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, rocketed to the top of the box office in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in 51.7 million dollars over the four-day weekend, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.

The film also had the biggest Christmas Day opening in Hollywood's history with estimated ticket sales of 14.75 million dollars, surpassing the 10.22 million dollars grossed by the previous record holder "Ali" on Christmas day in 2001, said box office tracking firm Media By Numbers.

Paramount's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," a big-screen adaptation of the short story by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, was in second place with an estimated 39 million dollars over the same period. Brad Pitt and Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett appear in the film that tracks the fantasy life of a man born old and dying as a baby.

Disney's family comedy "Bedtime Stories," in which Adam Sandler plays a man whose bedtime stories for his nephew and niece come true in real life, ranked in No. 3 with 38.6 million dollars. But the film edged ahead of "Benjamin Button" over the three-day weekend if Christmas Day sales are removed from the totals.

Tom Cruise's World War II thriller "Valkyrie" was in the fourth spot with an unexpected 30 million dollars over the Christmas weekend, followed by last week's box office leader, the Jim Carrey comedy "Yes Man," with 22.4 million dollars.

Amid a deepening economic recession, Hollywood celebrated the Christmas holiday with a record of five new movies in wide release.

The top-selling 12 movies took in 182.5 million dollars this weekend, up 8 percent from the same weekend last year, while Hollywood's total domestic box office revenues for the year are expected to almost keep at par with the all-time record of 9.7 billion dollars in 2007.