The combination of director Spike Lee and leading man Denzel Washington was too much for the competition at the box office as Lee's latest 'joint,' 'Inside Man' soared to the top of the weekend box office standings.
The bank-heist thriller had an estimated domestic gross of $29 million, making it the largest opening weekend for any Spike Lee film or film starring Denzel Washington. The star power of Jodie Foster and Clive Owen didn't hurt either.
Second place belonged to last week's top grossing film, 'V for Vendetta' starring Natalie Portman. The political fantasy grossed $12.3 million to bring its 10-day total to $46.2 million.
Frankie Muniz's new film, 'Stay Alive' finished third. The Disney release about a video game that can kill its players took in $11.2 million on its opening weekend. Disney also scored the fifth highest grossing film with Tim Allen's 'The Shaggy Dog' which took in an estimated $9.1 million. The romantic comedy 'Failure to Launch' finished fourth with $10.8 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were Amanda Bynes' comedy 'She's the Man,' 'Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,' 'The Hills Have Eyes,' 'Eight Below' and '16 Blocks.'
For the first time in a month, the top 12 grossing films took in more money than a year ago. This year's top 12 were up $10.6 percent over last year on this same weekend.
Hollywood is hoping that next week's release of 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' keeps the momentum going.
