'21 Jump Street' lands at number one

This week's success is 21 Jump Street, a feature version of the 1980s TV series. With strong support from under-25s, which gave the movie an "A" rating, the undercover-cops-in-schools movie soared to the top with $35 million. It's second to Jackass 3D as the best opening for an R-rated comedy opening outside of summer. Male audience members were only a slight majority (53%), leading some to conclude that Channing Tatum (star of romance The Vow) attracted female viewers who wanted to see more of the attractive leading man.

Will Ferrell's Spanish-language Casa de Mi Padre performed surprisingly well, cracking the top ten with $2.2 million. 68% of the audience was Hispanic, and the comedy was attended equally by males and females. Next week the picture will expand further, so we'll see if its opening-weekend success was a fluke or a sign of things to come.

The Duplass Brothers' Jeff Who Lives at Home reeled in a $3,300 per-screen average for a total of $840,000. That's not bad for the low-budget indie, which stars Jason Segel and Ed Helms. I doubt the picture will reach Cyrus' $7 million total.

Friends with Kids held on to its audience with just a 26% decrease from last week. The comedy, which centers on 30/40-somethings, their relationships, and their kids, earned $1.5 million as it added additional markets. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen upped its box office by 101% as it expanded into more locations. With a $7,000 per-screen average, the Emily Blunt-Ewan McGregor picture totaled $455,000.

The latest Nicolas Cage actioner is going straight to video. Seeking Justice earned $260,000--a $1,100 per-screen average--and woefully failed to ignite.

This Friday, the much-anticipated The Hunger Games will hit theatres. No other studios were foolish enough to try to schedule a movie to go up against a series showing the same promise as Twilight.

'21 Jump Street' shoots for the top spot

This weekend is all about comedies. 21 Jump Street (3,121 theatres) is the widest release of the bunch. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star in this retread of the '80s TV series about cops going undercover in a local high school. Critical reaction has been surprisingly positive given the project's could-be-awful origins. 88% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a fresh rating, and the comedy has a slightly more tepid 70 rating on Metacritic. FJI critic David Noh was not one of the movie's fans, dismissing it as "crassly conceived commercial offal." The opposing view seems to be that if you buy into some of the more ridiculous premises, the comedy will take you on a good ride--just don't think too hard. Tracking suggests an opening above $20 million, with a strong possibility that it will best the third week of The Lorax.

Will Ferrell speaks entirely in Spanish in the subtitled Casa de Mi Padre (382 theatres). Critic Kevin Lally didn't care for the "eccentric but flat comedy," which "feels just like one of those lame, self-amused ["SNL"] sketches, mercilessly padded out to feature length." It's something of a dark horse candidate at the box office. Lionsgate partner Pantelion, which is Hispanic-focused, will certainly try to optimize the theatres in the targeted release--but will audiences bite?

The latest indie from the prolific Duplass Brothers, Jeff Who Lives at Home (254 theatres) also has an unknown factor. Along with Casa de Mi Padre, it's not expected to earn more than a couple million.  I enjoyed the quirky movie, but my guest despised it--so this isn't the safest pick for a group outing. Our critic Marsha McCreadie was warmed by the "gentle yet spunky comedy." It also may be one of the last movies to make use of AOL instant messenger.

After earning $2 million last week, Friends with Kids expands into 640 theatres. Its slow rollout may be buoyed by audiences' positive response to the comedy centered on life stages like marriage and kids.

Those on Nicolas Cage career-spiral watch can check out Seeking Justice (230 theatres), "a goofy little thriller that jettisons logic anytime it interferes with squeezing in more paranoia," according to THR's John DeFore. Next stop: Redbox, if it can even snag a slot.

Arthouse lovers can check out The Kid with a Bike (3 theatres), the well-reviewed "gentle" drama from the Dardenne Brothers. Critic Jon Frosch praises the "beautifully wrought story of a troubled boy and the stranger who saves him."

On Monday, we'll see which comedies sparked among audiences and which fell flat, and if The Lorax continues on a pace to top $200 million.