Presto! The Prestige Soars over Flags

The Prestige pulled off the biggest trick of the weekend, materializing in first place at the weekend box office.

The thriller, about a feud between 19th-century magicians, conjured up $14.8 million from Friday to Sunday to finish ahead of a couple of Oscar-buzzing films: Martin Scorsese's still-strong The Departed, which banked $13.5 million in its third week, and Clint Eastwood's World War II saga, Flags of Our Fathers, which unfurled in third place with $10.2 million.

Pulling up lame was Flicka, the updated tale of the bond between a kid and a wild horse, which reined in just $7.7 million in fifth place. Opening in far fewer theaters, the weekend's other major newcomer, Marie Antoinette, managed to hold its head high, raking up $5.4 million in eighth place.

"It looks like the older movie audience is back," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. He noted that earlier this fall, when the political drama All the King's Men tanked and the youth-targeted Jackass: Number Two hit big, it looked like films catering to adults were going to be a tough sell. But the success of the top three movies this weekend suggests the outlook for serious-minded movies with grown-up stories to tell is quite good.

The other good news is that overall business was up for a fourth straight weekend over this time last year, with the combined gross for the top 12 movies at $85.5 million, per Exhibitor Relations. While down 14 percent from last weekend's total, that was up a solid 22 percent over last year.

The Prestige, spun on to the screen by director Christopher Nolan, stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as illusionist pals turned rivals, with support from Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie. The PG-13 Disney release debuted at 2,281 locations, where it averaged $6,489 per screen.

Dergarabedian felt that a "great trailer" combined with the star cast and Nolan's impeccable track record (Memento, Batman Begins) made for a must-see film. Of the top three films, it had the youngest skewing audience, with roughly 70 percent under 35.

With fawning critics already talking up its Academy Award chances, Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, in which Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach play the survivors of the iconic flag-raising at Iwo Jima, averaged $5,461 at 1,876 sites. Ticket buyers for the R-rated Paramount release were 80 percent over 30.

Aiming for a younger audience but instead drawing empty seats was Flicka, in which Alison Lohman plays the rebellious girl (a boy in the original story) who wants to tame a mustang, with Maria Bello and Tim McGraw as her parents. The PG release from Fox opened at 2,877 locations and only averaged $2,678.

Pulling a much better per theater average was Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, which uses the hedonism of pre-French Revolution times to skewer today's celeb culture. The PG-13 release, starring Kirsten Dunst as the pretty, doomed monarch, opened in just 859 locations, where it averaged an attractive $6,241 per screen.

In more limited release, Disney's 3-D update of the 1993 curiosity Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas got a good jump on the spooky season, averaging an excellent $19,506 at 168 locations for $3.3 million.

Sony's R-rated Running with Scissors, a true-life odd-family drama about a youth sent to live with his mother's shrink, with a cast that includes Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Brian Cox, Joseph Cross and Gwyneth Paltrow, and directed by Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, unspooled in eight locations and averaged a sharp $28,264 for a three-day total of  $226,108.

Holdover films had mixed success with Scorsese's The Departed performing extremely well. The R-rated Warner Bros. release dipped just 29 percent as its three-week haul climbed to $76.9 million.

Sony also saw solid retention for Open Season. In its fourth week, the PG critter 'toon only dropped 27 percent to stay in fourth place with $8.2 million. The family-friendly flick has grossed $69.8 million.

However, not doing nearly as well were last weekend's openers, which tumbled sharply: The Grudge 2 fell 63 percent, down from the top slot to sixth with $7.7 million; Man of the Year dropped 44 percent, from third to seventh with $6.9 million; and The Marine retreated 47 percent from sixth to tenth with $3.8 million.

Here's a rundown of the top-grossing films based on final studio tallies:

1. The Prestige, $14.8 million
2. The Departed, $13.5 million
3. Flags of Our Fathers, $10.2 million
4. Open Season, $8.2 million
5. Flicka, $7.7 million
6. The Grudge 2, $7.65 million
7. Man of the Year, $6.9 million
8. Marie Antoinette, $5.4 million
9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, $3.8 million
10. The Marine, $3.78 million