Walt Disney Co.'s throwback animated film 'Wreck-It Ralph' won the weekend box office with a stronger-than-expected $49.1 million debut.

The movie, about a videogame villain who dreams of becoming a hero and sets out to earn the respect of his arcade peers, opened as the biggest Disney Animation Studios release to date, in part because it attracted a broad demographic through its retro appeal, said Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president of theatrical sales.

'The resonance of these classic characters was screaming through' in early test screenings, Mr. Hollis said. The filmmakers wanted to create a movie 'as appealing for that 28-year-old single person as it would be for the 38-year-old parent of a kid,' he said.

'Wreck-It Ralph,' which features the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch, attracted an audience in which 25% of the people were under the age of 25 and 68% attended with their families.

In the family-oriented animated segment, 'Wreck-It Ralph' isn't likely to face a significantchallenge until the fantasy film 'Rise of the Guardians' opens on Nov. 21. 'We feel good about the start, considering what we have downstream in terms of competition,' Mr. Hollis said.

'Flight,' featuring Denzel Washington as a substance-abusing commercial-airline pilot, came in second over the weekend. The $31 million film, distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and directed by Robert Zemeckis, earned $25 million in its first weekend in theaters.

The film is Mr. Zemeckis's first live-action movie in more than a decade, and attracted a nearly even split of moviegoers along gender lines, with men making up 51% of the audience and women 49%.

'Argo,' the Ben Affleck-directed drama about a plan to rescue six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis, took third place with a weekend gross of $10.2 million. The cumulative domestic gross for the film, distributed by Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Pictures, now stands at $75.9 million.

'The Man with the Iron Fists,' from Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures, earned $8.2 million in its opening weekend, landing it in fourth place. The $15 million martial-arts film was directed by and features RZA, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.

'Taken 2' continued its strong performance, earning $6 million in its fifth weekend in theaters, and bringing its cumulative domestic gross to $125.7 million.

'Cloud Atlas,' on the other hand, delivered further disappointing results, earning $5.6 million in its second weekend, and bringing the cumulative domestic gross for the $100 million film to $18.3 million.

ERICA ORDEN

• release [ri´li:s]   vt&n.释放；放松；赦免   (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv]   a.行政的 n.行政官   (初中英语单词)
• audience [´ɔ:diəns]   n.听众；观众；接见   (初中英语单词)
• challenge [´tʃælindʒ]   n.&vt.向....挑战；怀疑   (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:]   vt.&n.救援；挽救   (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik]   a.家庭的；本国的   (初中英语单词)
• universal [,ju:ni´və:səl]   a.宇宙的；普遍的   (初中英语单词)
• opening [´əupəniŋ]   n.开放；开端 a.开始的   (初中英语单词)
• performance [pə´fɔ:məns]   n.履行；行为；工作   (初中英语单词)
• appeal [ə´pi:l]   vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉   (高中英语单词)
• classic [´klæsik]   a.第一流的 n.杰作   (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt]   a.重要的；意义重大的   (高中英语单词)
• decade [´dekeid]   n.十年(间)   (高中英语单词)
• iranian [i´reiniən]   a.伊朗的 n.伊朗人   (高中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis]   n.转折点；危机   (高中英语单词)
• weekend [´wi:kend, ,wi:k´end]   n.周末休假   (英语四级单词)
• villain [´vilən]   n.坏人；恶棍；反面角色   (英语四级单词)
• theatrical [θi´ætrikəl]   a.戏院的；戏剧(性)的   (英语四级单词)
• considering [kən´sidəriŋ]   prep.就...而论   (英语四级单词)
• animated [´ænimeitid]   a.栩栩如生的；活跃的   (英语六级单词)
• segment [´segmənt]   n.部分；段；弓形   (英语六级单词)
• fantasy [´fæntəsi]   n.幻想(曲)，想象   (英语六级单词)
• downstream [,daun´stri:m]   a.&ad.下流的，顺流的   (英语六级单词)
• paramount [´pærəmaunt]   a.最高的 n.元首   (英语六级单词)
• landing [´lændiŋ]   n.登陆；降落；楼梯平台   (英语六级单词)