Despite the box office's worst fall season for attendance in over a decade, the holidays kicked off with two sizable openings fromAmerican GangsterandBee Movie,demonstrating again how the appeal of the movies themselves drives the market more than any other factor, including quantity, which fall had in spades. Hollywood's mostly dreary lot of autumn pictures led to six down weeks in a row, but this weekend's business perked up slightly compared to last year.

American Gangsterracked up $43.6 million on approximately 5,300 screens at 3,054 theaters, whileBee Moviecollected $38 million on around 6,100 screens at 3,928 theaters.Gangsterpacked a more impressive punch than its $5.5 million lead onBee Moviewould suggest.

High profile crime dramas bolstered by star power likeAmerican Gangsterhave been a consistent draw over the years, though they rarely reach blockbuster levels.Gangstermarks the first crime saga to crack $30 million on its opening weekend, blasting past titles likeSin CityandThe Departedfor top honors in the genre. In addition,Gangsterdelivered career best starts for lead actorsDenzel Washington(well ahead ofInside Man) andRussell Crowe(higher thanGladiator).

In its marketing,American Gangsterreplicated the bravado audiences have appreciated in past gangster pictures, likeNew Jack CityandScarface (1983).Its black and white poster was even similar toScarface's. Combining that quality with true crime and Seventies era trappings as well as Mr. Washington and Mr. Crowe in roles fitting their popular personas led to a broad appeal among mostly adults. Distributor Universal Pictures' exit polling indicated thatAmerican Gangster's audience was 53 percent female and skewed older with two thirds over 30 years old, while a quarter was 50 and over.

While honey didn't exactly equal loads of money, DreamWorks'Bee Moviehad the sixth highest-grossing start not to reach No. 1 on the weekend chart. The computer-animated comedy was former television star Jerry Seinfeld's first major foray onto the big screen. While it may have seemed odd for Seinfeld to do a family movie, his brand of humor was a fit for DreamWorks Animation, which has built itself on self-conscious, pop-cultured, innuendo-laced titles like theShrekmovies,MadagascarandShark Tale.

With the raft of "making of" -style promotions that Seinfeld pushed in trailers and television shorts,Bee Moviemay have been too self-conscious as the picture's opening was less than average among major computer-animated movies and it sold fewer tickets thanChicken Littleon the same frame in 2005. Aside from the insider ads,Bee Moviewas presented as a generic computer-animated romp, something audiences have been inundated with in recent years, sans a story to make it stand out.

Meanwhile,Martian Childbeamed in a poor $3.4 million at 2,020 sites in its debut.Saw IVsuffered the biggest second weekend drop of theSawseries, bleeding 67 percent to $10.3 million. While its opening weekend was not far off fromSaw IIandSaw III,the horror sequel's ten-day tally trails significantly at $50.4 million. On the other hand,Dan in Real Lifeheld relatively well, down 33 percent to $7.9 million for $22.7 million in ten days.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Review: 'American Gangster'

• 11/6/06 -'Borat' Bombards Top Spot (Same Weekend, 2006)

• 11/7/05 -Welcome to the Cluck: 'Chicken,' 'Jarhead' Tops(Same Weekend, 2005)

• 11/8/04 -$70M Fantastic for 'Incredibles'(Same Weekend, 2004)

RELATED CHARTS

•Weekend Box Office Results

• Top November Openings

• Top Non-No.1 Debuts

• Crime Dramas

• Computer Animation

NOTE: This report was originally written on Sunday, Nov. 4 and was revised on Monday, Nov. 5 with actual grosses.