'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' ends up as top dog at the box office

Despite the controversy that "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" stirred up among animal shelter officials and Latinos, the Disney film did better than expected, grossing $29 million and knocking the thriller "Eagle Eye" into second place, the Times' Peter Pae reports:

The live-action animal comedy, featuring the voices of Drew Barrymore and George Lopez, was expected to gross $20 million to $25 million. It was the best October debut of any Disney picture.

"We're ecstatic," said Chuck Viane, president of domestic distribution for Disney. "We don't think we could have done any better with a market that had seven movies opening."

It was one of the more crowded weekends for film premieres and led to a surge in moviegoers. The weekend gross for the top 12 movies totaled $95.4 million, up 42% from the same weekend a year ago, according to the box-office tracking firm Media by Numbers.

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" opened in 3,215 theaters, with a strong per-theater average of slightly more than $9,000.

In case you missed it this weekend, The Times also reviewed the film and reported on some prominent Latinos touting the film, including influential local radio host Eddie Sotelo, a.k.a. Piolin. Perahps if we'd seen more chihuahuas in Julianne Moore's "Blindness," it may have helped that film at the box office?

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Daniel Daza / Disney Enterprises Inc