"Virgin" Scores!

The 40-Year Old Virgin likes it on top.

Steve Carell's sex-deprived comedy, an R-rated romp about a middle-aged geek who's prodded by buddies into seeking out love, scored $21.4 million to open as the number one film over yet another slow weekend at the box office

Another newcomer also did okay business in the final dog days of summer. Wes Craven's psycho-on-an-airplane thriller Red Eye flew into second place with $16.2 million.

But the rest of the multiplex newbies barely registered, according to final studio figures released Monday.

Valiant, a G-rated CGI family flick about heroic World War II carrier pigeons, could only flap into eighth place with $5.9 million. That was positively boffo compared to Supercross: The Movie, a PG-13 bike-racing flick, spun its wheels down in 15th place with a woeful $1.3 million.

A Universal rep was understandably happy to "brag about" the success of The 40-Year Old Virgin, which only cost about $26 million to produce and should recoup that figure by midweek. Written by Carell--the former Daily Show correspondent who now fronts the NBC sitcom The Office--in conjunction with the director, Judd Apatow, the movie earned generally favorable reviews that emphasized the charm of the relationship between Carell and Catherine Keener and the sweetness that balances its raunchy jokes. Noting that the audience was 54 percent female--"above the norm" for an R-rated sex comedy--the Universal spokesperson mentioned that women were probably attracted to its' "heart." At 2,845 theaters, its per-site average was $7,530.

Red Eye, starring Rachel McAdams is the cute female trapped by terrorist Cillian Murphy, took off in 3,079 theaters, where the PG-13 DreamWorks release averaged a decent $5,251.

Disney's high hopes for Valiant were dashed. The computer-generated 'toon, one of several Pixar-less projects in the pipeline, features the voice work of Ewan McGregor as the rah-rah leader of a flying squad of messenger pigeons with support from a prestigious group of British character actors, including the original The Office star Ricky Gervais, House star Hugh Laurie, Monty Python's John Cleese, Spamalot's Tim Curry and Oscar winner Jim Broadbent. Valiant averaged only $2,937 at 2,014 locations.

With Supercross way out of the top 10, Fox could only express "disappointment" at the PG-13 release, which stars Steve Howey and Mike Vogel as the wannabe bike champs. It averaged a miniscule $821 at 1,621 theaters.

Meanwhile, last week's number one, the revenge rampage Four Brothers, only dropped 41 percent to third place, earning $12.5 million. The R-rated Paramount release has now grossed $43.1 million.

Holding strong in fourth place was Wedding Crashers, which also stars McAdams along with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. In its sixth week, the R-rated New Line hit earned $8 million from Friday to Sunday from a per screen average of $2,741 at 2,920 sites, and has now grossed $177.6 million.

But Kate Hudson's The Skeleton Key is failing to lock up audiences. The frightfest dropped 52 percent from its opening weekend, down from second to fifth place. The PG-13 Universal release earned $7.7 million from an average $2,785 of 2,774 theaters to bring its total to $30.4 million.

Finally, while Valiant went to the birds, another avian flick continued to soar. March of the Penguins, about the flightless residents of the frozen seas, only dropped 5 percent in its ninth week and moved up a slot to sixth place. Earning $6.5 million from a per-site average of $3,086 at 2,102 theaters, the G-rated Warner Independent documentary has now grossed $48.4 million.

Overall the top 12 movies grossed $98.8 million, down 6 percent from last weekend and 3 percent from last year, when Exorcist: The Beginning headlined the box office..

Here is a rundown of the top 10 based on studio talles compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. The 40-Year Old Virgin, $21.4 million
2. Red Eye, $16.2 million
3. Four Brothers, $12.5 million
4. Wedding Crashers, $8 million
5. The Skeleton Key, $7.7 million
6. March of the Penguins, $6.5 million
7. The Dukes of Hazzard, $6 million
8. Valiant, $5.9 million
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, $4.4 million
10. Sky High, $4 million

(Originally published Aug. 21, 2005 at 12:25 p.m. PT.)