‘Bee Movie’ is busy flying to No. 1

Jerry Seinfeld’s pesky little “Bee Movie” emerged as queen of the box office over the weekend, stinging the Harlem drug lords of “American Gangster” and knocking the critically acclaimed crime thriller into second place.

“Bee” also buzzed past Warner Bros.’ new Christmas comedy “Fred Claus,” starring Vince Vaughn, and took a bite out of Hollywood heavyweights Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, whose highly promoted political drama “Lions for Lambs” placed fourth.

“Our bee has legs,” said Anne Globe, head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks Animation. “This weekend really shows that the ‘Bee Movie’ is a must-see show this holiday season.”

For the first time since July 2005, a movie climbed from a lower opening spot to No. 1 at the box office. “Bee Movie,” a silly animated film written and voiced by Seinfeld about a bee that sues the human race for stealing honey, brought in $26 million for a total of $72.2 million since its release.

“American Gangster” drew $24.3 million, “Fred Claus” got $19.2 million and “Lions for Lambs” was fourth at $6.7 million.

The last time a movie jumped to the top position after starting lower was when “Wedding Crashers” captured No. 1 in its third week of release.

“It’s so rare to do what ‘Bee Movie’ has done,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media by Numbers, noting that the movie is benefiting from “terrific word of mouth.”

“Audiences, especially the family audience, really have been starved for entertainment,” he added.

In 2003, New Line Cinema’s “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell, opened in early November at No. 2, then jumped to the top spot in its second week of release.

Another Warner Bros.’ holiday film, “The Polar Express,” opened in 2004 to a disappointing $23 million but went on to do $176 million.

Studio executives are hoping that “Fred Claus” will follow the same pattern.

“The holiday season is a long season,” said Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros. “We’re well-positioned going into the holiday. We’re in there for the long run.”

“Fred Claus,” which stars Paul Giamatti as Santa and Vaughn as his slacker older brother, could benefit from being the only heavily Christmas themed movie this season.

As Christmas approaches, Fellman said families that had already seen “Bee Movie” would be looking for another option.

It may have been bumped from the top position, but “American Gangster” also continued to draw crowds in its second week.

Last week’s impressive numbers made the movie, which stars Denzel Washington as a 1970s Harlem drug lord and Russell Crowe as the cop trying to take him down, this fall’s top opener so far -- and marked the biggest opening for both actors. In two weeks, it has grossed $80.6 million in domestic receipts.

“Lions for Lambs” is the first United Artists release under the new management of Tom Cruise and his longtime producing partner, Paula Wagner.

The political drama about war in the Middle East was directed by Redford, who also stars in it along with Cruise and Streep.

Its tepid performance at the box office underscored the challenges that studios are facing to attract moviegoers to films with more serious themes.

The weekend’s other new release, the horror flick “P2” by Summit Entertainment, opened at No. 8 with $2.2 million on 2,131 screens.

Box-office revenue year to date is up 5.5% over this time last year. But weekend totals were down 11.6% compared with the same weekend last year.

This coming weekend’s big debut is the $150-million Robert Zemeckis-directed epic “Beowulf,” starring Angelina Jolie. The movie, based on the Old English poem, will play on an estimated 1,000 3-D screens, making it the largest 3-D release in history.

kimi.yoshino@latimes.com

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‘American Gangster’ holds up

Despite a lower than expected first-week opening, “Bee Movie” bounced back with a $26-million weekend showing to jump into the top spot in its second week.

“American Gangster” dropped 44% in its second weekend but came in at a solid No. 2. “Fred Claus” finished third but may gain momentum as the holiday season gets underway. The Robert Redford-directed “Lions for Lambs,” which studio executives have carefully pitched as an ensemble drama piece -- not a Tom Cruise vehicle like “Mission Impossible” -- averaged $3,029 per theater to place fourth.

Disney’s “The Game Plan” is holding steady in its seventh week and continues to push toward the $100- million mark.

Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:

*--* -- Movie 3-day gross Total Weeks -- (studio) (millions) (millions)

1 Bee Movie $26 $72.2 2 -- (Paramount)

2 American Gangster 24.3 80.7 2 -- (Universal)

3 Fred Claus 19.2 19.2 1 -- (Warner Bros.)

4 Lions for Lambs 6.7 6.7 1 -- (MGM)

5 Dan in Real Life 5.9 30.7 3 -- (Disney)

6 Saw IV 5.0 58.1 3 -- (Lions Gate)

7 The Game Plan 2.4 85.4 7 -- (Disney)

8 P2 2.2 2.2 1 -- (Summit Entertainment)

9 30 Days of Night 2.1 37.4 4 -- (Sony)

10 Martian Child 1.8 6.0 2 -- (New Line) *--*

Industry totals

*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2006 (in billions) from 2006 $112 -11.6% $8.17 billion +5.5% *--*

Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue.

Source: Media by Numbers