The Day the Earth Stood Still [1] may not have been a critical hit [2] but it is now officially a box office success, earning $31 million over the weekend [3] and topping Four Christmases [4], which slid into second place. Twilight [5], Bolt [6], and Australia [7] followed in third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.

Meanwhile, Variety is reporting that smaller, independent films [8] "delivered one of the best weekends ever for the specialty box office." Movies like Doubt [9], The Reader [10] and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino [11] all enjoyed strong debuts, while movies like Milk [12] and Frost/Nixon [13] continue to draw good sized audiences in theaters.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox [14]