Penguins, Bond Too Cool for Denzel's Déjà Vu

It was déjà vu all over again, and that spelled bad news for Déjà Vu.

Audiences chased their turkey with a generous helping of Happy Feet and Casino Royale, which finished 1-2 for a second straight week, holding the new Denzel Washington time-travel crime thriller to a third-place debut.

The seasonal comedy Deck the Halls, meanwhile, opened in fourth place.

Over the extended five days of the Thanksgiving holiday, Happy Feet continued to hoof it up at the box office, waddling its way to $50.6 million to push its 10-day total to $99.3 million.

For the tradition Friday-Sunday tally, Mumble and his mates managed $37 million, averaging $9,737 at 3,804 locations, according to final studio figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations. That's a drop of 11 percent from its opening weekend.

Over five days, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig as the latest 007, continued with a hot hand, tallying $44.9 million.

Like Happy Feet, the Sony-released James Bond flick held strong in its second week, with $30.8 million from Friday to Sunday, off just 25 percent from its first week and has now grossed $94.1 million domestically. The film averaged $8,942 at 3,443 sites. With another $128.2 million in overseas ticket sales, Casino Royale is on target to become the most successful Bond movie ever, surpassing Die Another Day, which four years ago achieved a worldwide gross of $432 million.

Disney's PG-rated thriller Déjà Vu, another extravagant crime caper from producer Jerry Bruckheimer's stable, directed by Tony Scott and starring Washington as an ATF agent able to bend time to reverse disaster and find true love, raked up just $28.6 million over five days. Its three-day gross was $20.6 million from a per-screen average of $6,620 at 3,108 locations.

Fox's PG-rated Deck the Halls, starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as rival Christmas décor nuts, strung up $16.9 million over five days. The three-day gross was $12 million from a $3,745 average at 3,205 locations.

Fox's very different offering, the R-rated satire Borat, continued strong in its fourth week. Dipping only 29 percent to fifth place, Sacha Baron Cohen's offensive to one and all faux journalism onslaught earned $10.3 million over the three-day weekend, and $15.3 million from Wednesday through Sunday, while playing at 2,552 sites. The film also surpassed the $100 million mark and has now grossed $109.2 million.

Just managing to crack the top 10 was The Fountain. The PG-13 Warner Bros. release, a sci-fi romance starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and directed by Weisz's beau, Darren Aronofsky, opened with just $5.5 million over the extended holiday weekend. Its three-day total was just $3.8 million, with an average of just $2,560 at 1,472 locations.

It was beaten out by Bobby, Emilio Estevez's star-studded ensemble drama about the day of RFK's assassination. In its second week, the film expanded from two sites to 1,667 locations, gaining nearly 7,000 percent and moving into ninth place. The R-rated MGM release earned $6.1 million over five days and $4.9 million over three and has now grossed $6.2 million.

Missing out on the Top 10 party was Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Jack Black and Kyle Gass' heavy-metal goof, which earned $5.2 million to finish in 11th over the five-day period. From Friday to Sunday, the R-rated New Line release averaged $1,686 at 1,919 locations for $3.2 million.

New in extremely limited release was The History Boys, the screen version of Alan Bennett's play, starring Richard Griffiths as an unconventional teacher. At seven locations in the U.S. and Canada, the R-rated Fox Searchlight release played most strongly in New York, where the stage version was a Tony Award-winning hit. Averaging $14,503—clearly the highest per screen number for limited releases—The History Boys grossed $101,523 over three days and $133,359 over five.

Despite the strong staying power of the top two movies, a lack of firepower from the newcomers made it a second down weekend in a row compared to this time last year. Business was down 4.5 percent from Turkey Day 2005, when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire held the top slot for a second week.

Here's a rundown of the top-grossing films for the five-day (and three-day) weekend, per Exhibitor Relations:

1. Happy Feet, $50.6 million ($37 million)
2. Casino Royale, $44.9 million ($30.8 million)
3. Déjà Vu, $28.6 million ($20.5 million)
4. Deck the Halls, $16.9 million ($12 million)
5. Borat, $15.3 million ($10.3 million)
6. The Santa Clause 3, $13.7 million ($9.9 million)
7. Stranger Than Fiction, $8.1 million ($5.7 million)
8. Flushed Away, $7.6 million ($5.8 million)
9. Bobby, $6.1 million ($4.9 million)
10. The Fountain, $5.5 million ($3.8 million)