Top three keep their places

“Enchanted,” “This Christmas” and “Beowulf” each dropped slightly more than 50% but the three movies repeated at the top of the weekend charts, in the same order as the previous weekend.

The only new major release, the medical thriller “Awake,” opened at the lower end of analysts’ expectations to rank fourth.

Outside the top 10, the critically praised art house pictures “The Savages” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” fared well in limited release but both will get their true tests in the coming weeks as they roll out. The comedy-drama “The Savages,” starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, averaged $38,000 per theater at four locations, while the drama “The Diving Bell,” directed by Julian Schnabel, averaged $25,000 per theater at three locations.

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

Movie (studio): 1. Enchanted (Disney)

3-day gross (millions): $17.0

Total (millions): $70.6

Weeks: 2

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Movie (studio): 2. This Christmas (Sony)

3-day gross (millions): $8.4

Total (millions): $36.9

Weeks: 2

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Movie (studio): 3. Beowulf (Paramount)

3-day gross (millions): $7.9

Total (millions): $68.6

Weeks: 3

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Movie (studio): 4. Awake (Weinstein/MGM)

3-day gross (millions): $ 6.0

Total (millions): $ 6.0

Weeks: 1

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Movie (studio): 5. Hitman (20th Century Fox)

3-day gross (millions): $5.8

Total (millions): $30.2

Weeks: 2

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Movie (studio): 6. Fred Claus (Warner Bros.)

3-day gross (millions): $5.6

Total (millions): $59.8

Weeks: 4

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Movie (studio): 7. August Rush (Warner Bros.)

3-day gross (millions): $5.2

Total (millions): $20.4

Weeks: 2

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Movie (studio): 8. No Country for Old Men (Miramax)

3-day gross (millions): $4.5

Total (millions): $23.0

Weeks: 4

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Movie (studio): 9. Bee Movie (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount)

3-day gross (millions): $4.5

Total (millions): $117.6

Weeks: 5

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Movie (studio): 10. American Gangster (Universal)

3-day gross (millions): $4.3

Total (millions): $121.7

Weeks: 5

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Industry totals

3-day gross (in millions): $85.0

Change from 2006: -8.2%

Year-to-date gross (in billions): $8.68

Change from 2006: +4.7%

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

Source: Media by Numbers

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Los Angeles Times