'Night at the Museum' still undefeated at box office

By Thomas K. Arnold, Special for USA TODAY
It was the weekend of the three-peat in theaters, as Night at the Museum and The Pursuit of Happyness captured the two top spots at the box office for the third consecutive weekend.
Museum, the latest in a string of hit comedies starring Ben Stiller, took in an estimated $24 million to finish at No. 1. The film has grossed more than $164 million and is on track to hit the $200 million mark. Already, Museum is Stiller's second-biggest movie, behind 2004's Meet the Fockers, which took in $279.2 million.

Pursuit of Happyness, a feel-good movie starring Will Smith as a down-and-out father who against all odds becomes a millionaire, grossed an additional $13 million to bring its total so far to more than $124 million. "It was a labor of love," says Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures' head of distribution. "It has that magic that movies get sometimes."

The rest of the top five:

- Children of Men, starring Clive Owen, No. 3 with $10.3 million;

- The new Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank, No. 4 with $9.7 million;

- Dreamgirls, fifth with $8.8 million.

Outside the top 10, several Oscar hopefuls had strong weekends in limited release.

Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in a story of a teacher who has an affair with a student, took in $1.1 million in 93 theaters for a strong $11,328 per screen average. It goes to more markets this Friday.

Babel took in another $463,902 on just 190 screens, a drop of just 3% from the previous week. 's ensemble cast includes Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in a film about the reverbations a shooting in Morocco has on families around the world. It's been out in limited release since October.