After three weeks at the number-one spot at the box office, Tim Burton's dystopic Alice in Wonderland has finally slipped a notch, making only $17 million to How to Train Your Dragon's $43 million. While Dragon is clearly the kiddies' flavor of the week, Alice is still a box office bonanza, with a domestic tally of $293 million and a worldwide total of $656 million, making it one of the top 40 moneymakers of all time. Speaking of movies about guys who ride dragons and movies that made a lot of money, No.1 movie of all time Avatar has finally dropped out of the Top Ten, having made $2.7 billion worldwide. That should do it for now, right? [Well, at least until they re-release it with bonus scenes. -- Angel]

With four not particularly exciting movie releases this weekend, Alice in Wonderland was able to hold onto the number one spot and make an additional $62 million bucks at the box office. That gives it over $200 million in the U.S. and more than double that worldwide -- if Burton hadn't used both Alice books to make this movie, (and if he was at all prone to making sequels), we'd say a sequel was a no-brainer, but most likely he'll just get his pick of beloved childhood properties to re-imagine after he gets done with the full-length version of Frankenweenie, the short film about a reanimated dog that got him fired from Disney in 1984 for wasting company resources. So, of course, Disney is producing the remake. Apparently, money talks!

Take a classic, family-friendly film property and add a fan-favorite director, an iconic movie star and 3-D glasses, and you've apparently got a smash hit on your hands. Alice in Wonderland, the latest funhouse-mirror remake by director Tim Burton, opened to $116 million at the box office, the sixth biggest opening of all time, helping make it the biggest March opening ever in the U.S. That beats Burton's previous biggest opening, for Planet of the Apes ($68.5 million), and considering how much better this movie is than Apes, we hope it will outgross it in the long run, as well. Another $94 million from overseas placed it at number 14 on the list of biggest worldwide openings, so things are looking good there, too.

For the second weekend in a row, Martin Scorsese's psychological horror-mystery Shutter Island is at the top of the box-office chart. It seems positive word of mouth has kept it alive, although a 45% drop-off to $22 million has placed it just above Kevin Smith's latest, the buddy comedy Cop Out. While $18.5 mill is nothing to sneeze at for a Kevin Smith opening (it's almost double what Zack & Miri and Clerks II opened at), you'd think an action comedy with cop-movie legend Bruce Willis and hot comedy star Tracy Morgan would be #1 at the box office, right?

It seems everyone, from high-ranking Hollywood executives to Joe car enthusiasts to hipster entertainment columnists, knew that Fast & Furious would do well in theaters this past weekend. After all, the only other new film was the indie comedy Adventureland, which isn't exactly Superbad, and the biggest threat from last weekend's holdovers was the kid-targeted Monsters vs. Aliens. But the film actually surpassed expectations, bringing in $72 million in the U.S. alone, giving it the biggest April opening of all time, plus another $30 mill from overseas. All of a sudden, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster are moneymakers, and they're gonna be getting a lot of offers in the wake of this. If this smart-ass entertainment columnist may offer some suggestions, I've got a multi-part plan for success for each of them.

Although Gran Torino got shut out at the Golden Globes last night, with its only nomination (for Best Original Song) going to Bruce Springsteen's song for The Wrestler, director/star Clint Eastwood is probably feeling pretty good about himself right now. Torino finally opened wide this weekend, adding over 2,700 theatres, and took the number-one spot with $29M, beating out all of the new releases thanks to good reviews, awards recognition and the fact that Clint seems to be playing an elderly "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

Will Smith was voted the best moneymaker at the box office for 2008, the second time a black actor has been at the top of that list. (The first? Sidney Poitier in 1968.) Okay, I get that Will Smith is a big box-office draw, and I've even been known to acknowledge how well his movies tend to do at the box office. (Seven Pounds is looking like an exception.) But, um, "voted"? "Voted"? As in, they cast a ballot on who made the most money?

Proving this country loves nothing if not its dogs, Marley & Me held tight to its position at the top of the box office this weekend, adding $24.1 million, for a two-week total of $106.5. Impressive, yes? Indeed. Even for a dog film. According to Box Office Mojo, it's "the third-highest grossing dog movie on record," a coveted position, as we all know. It falls behind only Scooby-Doo (really? That movie?) and 101 Dalmatians, and is fast approaching the top of that list.

In a move that everybody who witnessed how well Beverly Hills Chihuahua did saw coming, the latest cutesy dog picture to come out of Hollywood, Marley & Me, came in at number one at the box office, with $37 million for the weekend, and a whopping $51.6 million since Christmas. Sure, sympathetic tabloid fodder Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson may have helped those numbers, but never underestimate the power of puppies (or puppy-dog eyes).

Apparently, Jim Carrey still has it, as his wacky comedy Liar, Liar-- uh, we mean Yes Man topped the box office this weekend, beating out Will "I am Box Office Legend" Smith's sad-looking Seven Pounds. But just barely -- Jimbo got $18.1 million, while Big Willy got an even $16 mill. Still, they were the standouts of the weekend, which remained mellow in the face of holiday shopping. (Expect the holiday weekend, with its six major releases, to turn everything on its ear.)