‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ wins the weekend box office battle

There was a lucrative extra dimension to the No. 1 bow of DreamWorks Animation’s 3-D animated feature “Monsters vs. Aliens” this weekend.

Released by Paramount in a mix of 2-D and 3-D venues, “Monsters” topped all domestic comers with an estimated $58.2 million debut boasting outsized contributions from its 3-D screens.

“Monsters” played on about 7,000 screens in 4,104 theaters, with the PG-rated action comedy offered in 3-D on just over 2,000 of those U.S. and Canadian screens. But 3-D screens contributed 56% of the overall tally — or $32.6 million from just 28% of the screens — to power “Monsters” to the biggest 3-D opening ever.

Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller “The Haunting in Connecticut” opened strongly in second place with $23 million, but Fox’s cop thriller “12 Rounds” rung up just $5.3 million in a soft seventh-place bow. Summit Entertainment’s “Knowing” was third, with the Nicolas Cage starrer dropping a modest 40% from its opening grosses to fetch $14.7 million and shape a $10-day cume of $46.2 million.

Two other holdovers also fared well in their sophomore sessions. Paramount’s R-rated comedy “I Love You Man” dipped 29% to $12.6 million in fourth place with a $37 million cume, and Universal’s Julia Roberts-Clive Owens starrer “Duplicity” declined 46% to $7.6 million in fifth place with a $25.6 million cume.

Industrywide, the weekend’s $143 million represented a 34% improvement over the same frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI. Year-to-date, 2009 is pacing 2% ahead of the same portion of last year, at $2.19 billion.

1. Monsters vs. Aliens $58,200,000 (Cumulative Gross $58,200,000)
2. The Haunting in Connecticut $23,010,000 (Cumulative Gross $23,010,000)
3. Knowing $14,705,000 (Cumulative Gross $46,220,000)
4. I Love You, Man $12,600,000 (Cumulative Gross $37,007,000)
5. Duplicity $7,556,000 (Cumulative Gross $25,639,000)
6. Race to Witch Mountain $5,637,000 (Cumulative Gross $53,295,000)
7. 12 Rounds $5,300,000 (Cumulative Gross $5,300,000)
8. Watchmen $2,755,000 (Cumulative Gross $103,296,000)
9. Taken $2,700,000 (Cumulative Gross $137,074,000)
10. The Last House on the Left $2,611,000 (Cumulative Gross $28,459,000)
11. Sunshine Cleaning $1,344,000 (Cumulative Gross $2,548,000)
12. Slumdog Millionaire $1,135,000 (Cumulative Gross $139,312,000)