'Marley & Me' earns $36.3M box office biscuit

LOS ANGELES – "Marley & Me" is the gift that keeps on taking: The romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson topped the box office with $36.3 million this weekend, a strong follow-up to its record $14.4 million Christmas Day debut.

Meanwhile, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which opened No. 2 on Christmas Day, gave up that slot to "Bedtime Stories" in the Friday-to-Sunday haul. The Adam Sandler family flick took $27.4 million over the weekend to edge out the Brad Pitt epic, which earned $26.8 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC:

1. "Marley & Me," Fox, $36,367,586, 3,480 locations, $10,450 average, $50,748,566, one week.

2. "Bedtime Stories," Disney, $27,450,296, 3,681 locations, $7,457 average, $38,029,113, one week.

3. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Paramount, $26,853,816, 2,988 locations, $8,987 average, $38,725,647, one week.

4. "Valkyrie," MGM, $21,027,007, 2,711 locations, $7,756 average, $29,520,979, one week.

5. "Yes Man," Warner Bros., $16,657,046, 3,434 locations, $4,851 average, $49,798,560, two weeks.

6. "Seven Pounds," Sony, $13,203,236, 2,758 locations, $4,787 average, $38,762,647, two weeks.

7. "The Tale of Despereaux," Universal, $8,932,625, 3,107 locations, $2,875 average, $27,448,085, two weeks.

8. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Fox, $7,697,799, 2,402 locations, $3,205 average, $63,480,184, three weeks.

9. "The Spirit," Lionsgate, $6,463,278, 2,509 locations, $2,576 average, $10,305,501, one week.

10. "Doubt," Miramax, $5,339,742, 1,267 locations, $4,214 average, $8,484,863, three weeks.

11. "Four Christmases," Warner Bros., $4,840,221, 2,510 locations, $1,928 average, $111,588,896, five weeks.

12. "Twilight," Summit Entertainment, $4,742,432, 1,849 locations, $2,565 average, $167,325,198, six weeks.

13. "Slumdog Millionaire," Fox Searchlight, $4,301,870, 614 locations, $7,006 average, $19,476,395, seven weeks.

14. "Bolt," Disney, $3,377,761, 1,923 locations, $1,757 average, $102,423,519, six weeks.

15. "Gran Torino," Warner Bros., $2,322,781, 84 locations, $27,652 average, $4,220,824, three weeks.

16. "Milk," Focus, $1,762,638, 311 locations, $5,668 average, $13,533,585, five weeks.

17. "Quantum of Solace," Sony, $1,400,474, 891 locations, $1,572 average, $164,302,659, seven weeks.

18. "Frost/Nixon," Universal, $1,355,186, 205 locations, $6,611 average, $3,539,426, four weeks.

19. "Australia," Fox, $1,079,248, 711 locations, $1,518 average, $44,283,588, five weeks.

20. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," Paramount, $923,018, 808 locations, $1,142 average, $174,862,381, eight weeks.