“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” raked $56.6 million in its opening weekend. It was enough to unseat “Iron Man” from its perch atop the box office mountain, although the comic-book film still brought in $31.2 million, bringing its 3-week total to an impressive $222 million. “What Happens in Vegas” made a strong $13.9 million in it second week out, and “Speed Racer” ($7.6 million) continued to disappoint.
In television, America is still fond of “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars,” both concluding this week. Nielsen ratings are here.
Neil Diamond sits atop the Billboard 200 and the UK charts for the first time, well, ever. Toby Keith’s “35 Biggest Hits” debuted at No. 2, followed by Madonna, Clay Aiken and Mariah Carey. Leona Lewis fell one spot to No. 6. The rest of the top 10 consisted of albums in their first week on the chart by, respectively, Gavin DeGraw, Josh Groban, Dierks Bentley, and Luis Miguel.
Barbara Walters’ relentlessness in hawking her new book, “Audition,” has paid off in the form of the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list. The only other new entrants on the non-fiction side are Carl Hiassen’s “The Downhill Lie” and “The Chris Farley Show,” a biography by the late comic’s brother. Stephanie Meyer and James Patterson are running 1-2 on the fiction list.