Comedian¹ Jim Carrey returned to the top of the North American box office with the grim children’s movie "Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events."

But the tidings were not as happy on Sunday for two other new releases, the Adam Sandler film "Spanglish" and Dennis Quaid’s remake of "Flight of the Phoenix²."

"Lemony Snicket" sold $30.2 million worth of tickets in the three days since opening on Friday, according to estimates provided by its distributor, Paramount³ Pictures, on Sunday.

The figure was in line with industry expectations, but paled against the $68 million opening of Carrey’s last chart-topper, "Bruce Almighty," over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in May 2003.

Last weekend’s champion, the all-star crime caper⁴ "Ocean’s Twelve" (Warner Bros.), slipped to No. 2 with estimated sales of $18.3 million. After 10 days, it has earned $68.7 million vs. $72.3 million at the same time for its 2001 predecessor⁵ "Ocean’s Eleven."

"Spanglish" (Columbia) opened at No. 3 with about $9.0 million, about half of what industry observers had been expecting.

The animated⁶ family film "The Polar Express" (Warner Bros.) held steady at No. 4 for a third weekend with $8.6 million. The surprise hit of the holidays, the film has now earned $123.6 million after a slow start. Wesley Snipes’ superhero adaptation "Blade: Trinity" (New Line) fell three places to No. 5 with $6.6 million in its second weekend, a drop of 59 percent. Its total rose to $35.4 million. Both studios are owned by Time Warner Inc .

"Flight of the Phoenix" (Fox), meanwhile, crashed at No. 8 with $5.2 million.

LIMITED RELEASES

In the limited release world, two awards contenders began their campaigns strongly. Director Martin Scorsese’s "The Aviator⁷" (Miramax), starring Leonardo DiCaprio as eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, grossed about $831,000 from 40 theaters. Actor/director Clint Eastwood’s "Million Dollar Baby" (Warner Bros.) starring Hilary Swank as a plucky⁸ boxer⁹, scored almost $178,000 from eight theaters in its first round. Miramax Films is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

Overall sales fell from the year-ago period but were essentially¹⁰ unchanged from last weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 movies grossed about $100.3 million, down 25 percent from last year, when "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" opened at No. 1.

"Lemony Snicket," a dark adventure based on the first three books of the popular children’s series by Daniel Handler, stars Carrey as the evil Count Olaf, who must care for three young orphans¹¹. The film, budgeted at about $140 million, was directed by Brad Silberling ("City of Angels").

As with recent animated hit "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," it was developed by Nickelodeon Movies, the film arm of the Nickelodeon kids cable channel which, like Paramount, is owned by Viacom Inc.

"Spanglish," from writer/director James L. Brooks¹² ("As Good As It Gets") stars Sandler, Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman and Spanish actress Paz Vega in a domestic comedy-drama fueled by marital¹³ tension. It was budgeted near $80 million.

Industry observers had expected an opening in the mid- to high-teen millions, although Columbia’s forecast was in the $8 million-$12 million range, said Rory Bruer, the Sony Corp .-owned studio’s president of domestic theatrical¹⁴ distribution. He predicted the movie would "be around for quite a while," as is often the case with Brooks’ films.

"Flight of the Phoenix," a remake of the 1965 Jimmy Stewart film, stars Dennis Quaid as the captain of a transport plane that has crashed in the Gobi Desert. The film, budgeted in the mid-$40 million range, was directed by John Moore ("Behind Enemy Lines").

Industry expectations were modest, but Fox had hoped for an opening above $6 million, said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic theatrical distribution at the News Corp.-owned studio. "It’s much too early to be disappointed," Snyder added.

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