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LOS ANGELES -- An adorable talking dog remained just the sort of escapist movie hero audiences wanted after a week of awful economic news.
Disney's family comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua, with Drew Barrymore providing the voice of the pooch, was the No. 1 flick for the second-straight weekend with $17.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $52.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua is the only light comedy in a market heavy on drama. Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution, said movie-goers may be turning to the perky pooch to help forget the market free-fall on Wall Street.
"This is only word-of-mouth coming back to us from theaters. I don't have any statistical proof. But they're telling us we're getting more unaccompanied-by-children adults coming on their own. They're looking for a little entertainment," Viane said. "The axiom we've always lived by is funny is money. People come out for comedy. They love to sit back and let someone give them a couple of hours of escapism."
The weekend's No. 2 flick -- the fright film Quarantine, which debuted with $14.2 million -- filled the escapism needs for the horror crowd. The Sony Screen Gems release centers on a contagion that turns an apartment building's tenants into flesh-hungry monsters.
The marquee trio of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott had to settle for third-place with their terrorism thriller Body of Lies, which had a $13.1 million debut. The Warner Bros. film centers on a CIA operative hunting the terrorist responsible for bombings around the world.
Body of Lies may have dealt with too sober a topic after all the disastrous financial news, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.
