'Cats & Dogs' paws its way to box-office victory

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Pets ruled at the box office, with "Cats & Dogs," a tale of feuding canines and felines, debuting as the No. 1 weekend film with $21.7 million.

"Scary Movie 2," the sequel to last year's horror spoof, opened in second place with $20.5 million.

Last week's top film, "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," fell to third place with $14 million. Jet Li's martial-arts thriller "Kiss of the Dragon" opened at No. 4 with $13.3 million.

The weekend offered a wide range of movies, including action films, family flicks, comedy and science fiction.

"It's so cliche, but there really is something for everybody right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office. "If studios give a range of choices without doubling up too much on genres, you'll get a very democratic vote from audiences."

Six movies managed to gross $10 million or more over the weekend, an unusually high number.

"That's fair," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released "Kiss of the Dragon." "It's a good marketplace for everybody."

"Cats & Dogs" combines live-action and digital animation to create a world where talking canines and felines duke it out using fancy computers and gadgetry. The movie stars Jeff Goldblum and Elizabeth Perkins and features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Tobey Maguire, Susan Sarandon and Sean Hayes.

"The underlying idea was so clear and strong and inventive. The idea of what happens if right under our noses, there's a high-tech war going on between cats and dogs," Larry Guterman, the film's director said Sunday. "It sounds funny to me still having just said it again."

"Scary Movie 2," created by the Wayans brothers and reuniting cast members from the original, bore the signs of a rushed sequel, receiving mostly bad reviews.

But distributor Miramax noted that the movie should have the third-best opening week in company history, behind "Scary Movie" and "Scream 3."

"Our audience skewed toward the 18- to 24-age range, and reviews aren't really what drive this audience," said David Kaminow, Miramax senior vice president for marketing.

"The Fast and the Furious" hit $101.4 million Sunday, becoming the seventh movie released this year to top $100 million.

"The Mummy Returns" should hit $200 million in the next week or so, becoming the second film to cross that mark. "Shrek" is the year's highest-grossing movie at $240.6 million and counting.