Stiller the One on New Year’s Day!

Continuing its reign over the box office after being #1 over Christmas weekend, Ben Stiller’s new family comedy Night at the Museum continued its successful run, taking in another estimated $46.7 million over the four-day New Year’s weekend, bringing its cumulative gross to $125.8 milion after just 11 days.

Also holding up well in its third weekend is Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyness, which held onto #2 with roughly $24.7 million in four days, which is just slightly less than its opening weekend on December 15. The emotional real-life drama crossed the $100 million mark over the weekend, showing Smith’s usual strength at bringing in audiences as did his previous film Hitch, and making “Pursuit” the 18th movie of 2006 to cross the $100 million mark, compared to 19 in 2005.

The Paramount/DreamWorks musical Dreamgirls successfully expanded on Christmas Day into 852 theatres, grossing $8.7 million, the highest single day for a movie musical. Over the four-day weekend, it brought in another $18.7 million, taking its total up to $41.6 million after just 8 days in wide release. It’s expected to add another 1,000 theatres on January 12.

After two disappointing weeks at the box office leading into Christmas Day, Paramount/Nickelodeon Films’ Charlotte’s Web, starring Dakota Fanning, finally started bringing in the type of family business expected, grossing roughly $15.1 million over the four-day weekend to move up two places to #4. It has grossed $56 million since opening on December 15.

The Universal CIA epic The Good Shepherd, starring Matt Damon, pulled ahead of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in their second weekend together, as the Robert De Niro-directed film took the fifth spot with $14.3 million over the long weekend. “Rocky” was one of the few movies in the Top 10 to drop from its previous weekend gross, bringing in $13.7 million for sixth place, compared to the $17 million it made its opening weekend. Despite that 20% drop, it has grossed $51.1 million compared to The Good Shepherd‘s $38.3 million.

Fox’s fantasy epic Eragon increased over 50% from the Christmas weekend, adding another $10.6 million to its total receipts of $59 million.

Warner Bros.’ football drama We Are Marshall picked up a bit of steam in its second weekend, grossing rougly $10.2 million for eighth place with a total of $27.3 million, while the studio’s animated powerhouse Happy Feet earned $9.7 million in its 7th weekend in the Top 10, bringing its total to $178 million as it moved up two places from last weekend.

The Sony romantic comedy The Holiday, from Nancy Meyers, ended up in 10th place with $8.5 million and a total gross of $51.8 million.

Rounding out the top 12 were Warner Bros.’ third film on the charts, the African drama Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Daniel Craig’s first stint as James Bond, Casino Royale, each grossing roughly $6.5 million. The former has grossed $37 million total while the latest 007 film has brought in $155 million.

Dimension Films’ opened their horror remake of Black Christmas on Christmas Day, where it made $3.3 million, but its business declined over the week to where it ended up making just $4.6 million over the four-day weekend, not enough to get into the Top 12.

Opening in limited release were the latest films from Mexican directors (and best friends) Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro, their respective films Children of Men and Pan’s Labyrinth opening in roughly 16 theatres in select cities. Children of Men got a bit of a headstart by opening on Christmas Day on Monday, while Pan’s Labyrinth opened on Friday. Del Toro’s film came out slightly ahead for the weekend, grossing $751 thousand to Children of Men‘s $696 thousand, and averaging slightly more in just one extra theatre. Children of Men is scheduled to expand into over 1,200 nationwide on Friday, though Pan’s Labyrinth will probably expand a bit more gradually.

The Fox Searchlight drama-thriller Notes on Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, opened in select cities on Friday where it grossed $550 thousand in 22 theatres, a respectable average of $25 thousand per theatre.

The German box office sensation Perfume – The Story of a Murderer, based on the bestselling book by Patrick Süskind, opened in 3 theatres in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, grossing $69 thousand in its first six days, a weak average of $16 thousand per theatre over the weekend.

Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.