Like the adults who often ignore savage reviews and hug a fun film, millions of children across America embraced Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which was greeted with awful reviews by practically every major television and print reviewer.

In Chicago Tribune, Robert K Elder wrote, 'To call this a movie a dog would also be an insult to canines, so let's just say Scooby-Doo 2 is a Scooby-Don't.'

But like other reviewers, he had no idea how strong the movie could bark.

The sequel also directed by Raja Gosnell reunites the computer-animated Great Dane with the crime fighting gang of Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard.

True, the No 1 film, which grossed $30 million, made far less money than the first Scooby film that had opened with  $54 million in three days in 2002, but that film had opened during summer.

Two movies aimed at adults opened to decent but not rousing numbers. The Ladykillers, which grossed about $13 million in about 1,580 theatres (Scooby-Doo 2 was in 3,300 theatres), had been greeted with mostly negative reviews. Many critics complained the film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen was not funny enough.

But the film, while breaking star Tom Hanks's extraordinary lucky streak that had seen him feature in over a dozen films that had grossed consecutively at least $100 million in North America, could still turn out to be a profitable venture. With the overseas grosses and DVD and video sales in factored in, Hanks' reputation could still be intact. The Ladykillers was the second highest grossing film of the weekend.

The third new release, Jersey Girl, starring Ben Affleck as a widower executive raising a daughter and a cameo by Jennifer Lopez as his wife with a sad luck, grossed about $8 million in about 1,500 theatres.

While critics called it a sentimental waste, women welcomed it precisely because of its emotional content, the exit surveys show.

With the help of a beautiful young friend (Liv Tyler), who opens him up to love again, and the daughter (Raquel Castro), who is far more mature than many kids of her age, Affleck's character begins to heal his wounds.

Given its modest budget of $20 million (and the fact it was in just about 1,500 theatres), Jersey Girl too could recoup its investment and make a small profit in the long run. Audiences were clearly in a mood to forgive and forget the Affleck-Lopez bomb Gigli that made just about $6 million not too long ago.

(The fourth new film released over the weekend, the gritty and often gripping Never Die Alone, starred rapper DMX. He played a drug dealer whose life unfolds after his death through audiotapes he left behind, did not have much of luck, opening at No 11 with $3.2 million. Even then the film, which cost about $3 million, is far from dead. With DVD and video sales, it too could show a small but decent profit.)

Still enjoying strong support, Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ, which was the third highest grossing film over the weekend, has accumulated about $315 million. The movie phenomenon, which is in about 3,200 movie houses, will add at least 500 movie houses coming Friday as distributor Newmarket Films hopes to give the film a higher profile during the Easter week. Many box-office observers think the film has a good chance to capture the top position that week.   

It was followed by the slasher hit, Dawn Of The Dead which, despite the ghostly 61 per cent fall from the previous week, has collected an impressive $43.8 million in just about 10 days. It is not uncommon for sci-fi and horror films to lose about 50 per cent of their audiences in the second week.    

The suspense thriller Taking Lives isn't holding too many hostages at the box-office. The movie, starring Angelina Jolie as an FBI profiler, which was the sixth highest grossing film of the week, has grossed $22 million in three weeks.

A genuine crowd-pleaser Starsky & Hutch is still enjoying wide popularity and was at the seventh place on the chart, having grossed about $77 million in a month. For Ben Stiller, this is a second hit in a row, following Along Came Polly. 

It followed the also-ran horse drama Hidalgo, and then the arthouse success Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind at ninth position on the chart. About the triumph of romantic heart, the complex but enchanting Eternal Sunshine stars Jim Carrey in his career's most complex role. It is destined for a $35-$40 million run.

A typical Carrey film grosses more than that in just about three days but the comedian sought out the film knowing well that it was going to have a limited appeal. But he also knew he would be guaranteed a rare kind of satisfaction working with such talented people as scriptwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Michael Gondry.

The last movie on the top 10 list, Secret Window, is heading for an okayish $50-$55 million run. There are many who believe that the film, a weak suspense drama, would not have enjoyed its modest popularity but for its lead actor, Johnny Depp.

To the more discerning moviegoers, the must-see movie was the  Nicole Kidman drama Dogville, a  slow-moving and intense drama, which opened in a handful of theatres in New York City and Los Angeles.

Directed by Lars Von Trier, the three-hour long film earned a strong $4 million in Italy recently. It stars Kidman as a fugitive who finds refuge among the residents of a Rocky Mountain town who slowly turn out to be far less than charitable and well-meaning as she thought them to be.