LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Darkness Falls," a teen horror about a town haunted by a ghostly old lady dubbed the Tooth Fairy, surprised the movie industry by grabbing the No. 1 slot at the North American box office in its first weekend.

The low-budget picture pulled in about $12.5 million for the three days beginning Jan. 24, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

Reigning champ "Kangaroo Jack" slipped to No. 2 with $11.9 million, while Golden Globes glory propelled the musical "Chicago" up three rungs to No. 3 with $8.5 million.

The top 10 contained one other new entry, the George Clooney (news)-directed spoof biopic "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," which jumped 35 places to No. 8 with $6 million in its first weekend of wide release.

Filmed in Australia by a rookie feature director (Jonathan Liebesman) with a relatively unknown cast (Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield (news)), the $11 million-budgeted "Darkness Falls" appeared to have little buzz going into the weekend.

Executives at the film's producer, Revolution Studios, had hoped for a $10 million-plus opening, but were worried that tracking surveys indicated a likely bow of about $8.5 million.

In the end, its audience-friendly PG-13 rating brought out the teenagers, whose unpredictable moviegoing habits often stump the industry experts.

"People -- especially young people -- like to be scared, and I think the movie has enough scares to make it work. It's fun," said Tom Sherak, a principal at Revolution. (One of the film's credited producers was Sherak's son, William.)

Preying on people's fear of the dark, "Darkness Falls" revolves around a young man's battle against a vengeful old woman who swoops down on her victims at night even as the disbelieving authorities ascribe his claims to a 150-year-old legend. The film was released by Sony Corp (news - web sites).'s Columbia Pictures, where Revolution is based.

"CHICAGO" TUNES UP $41 MILLION

"Chicago," which won three Golden Globe Awards (news - web sites), including best comedy/musical, last Sunday, has grossed $40.6 million after five weeks. The Miramax Films release is currently playing in just 616 theaters vs. more than 2,800 each for "Darkness Falls" and "Kangaroo Jack."

Miramax, a unit of Walt Disney Co., also released "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," which details the secret spy existence of game show mogul Chuck Barris. The offbeat film, which stars Sam Rockwell (news) and Drew Barrymore (news), played in 1,769 theaters, but its per-theater average of $3,393 was one of the lowest in the top 10, indicating that it could struggle to build on initial interest.

After 10 days in release, the family crime caper "Kangaroo Jack" has earned $35.5 million. The film, about two crooks who chase the kangaroo across Australia, was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Rounding out the top five, the hit romantic comedy "Just Married" fell one place to No. 4 with $7.5 million in its third weekend; its total rose to $44.3 million. The film, which stars Ashton Kutcher (news) and Brittany Murphy (news), was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

In its second weekend, "National Security" fell three places to No. 5 with $7.4 million; Columbia Pictures' Martin Lawrence (news) comedy has earned $26.1 million to date.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES(Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the Jan. 24-26 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

1. Darkness Falls .......... $12,024,917

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,024,917

2. Kangaroo Jack .......... $11,548,247

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $35,112,415

3. Chicago .......... $8,238,709

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $40,386,310

4. National Security .......... $7,308,966

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $26,040,534

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers .......... $6,611,705

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $308,821,306

6. Catch Me If You Can .......... $6,501,059

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $144,962,124

7. Just Married .......... $6,482,600

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $43,353,177

8. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind .......... $5,833,052

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,332,676

9. About Schmidt .......... $5,382,302

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $37,745,475

10. The Hours .......... $3,934,284

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $13,868,754

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  The box office downfall continues as Darkness Falls continues the new movie at the top of the box office trend.  When PG-13 horror attacks.  The leftover 2002 movies continue to show up as a full review of George Clooney's directorial debut follows.

I must confess. I love reality show programming. The guy who popularized the concept of game show reality is Chuck Barris. The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show were classic shows that influence much of the reality tv that is prominently shown on the networks today. However, Chuck Barris was not your average television producer. He had a secret life. Since Barris was so non assuming as a manic host and producer, he was tapped by a secret divsion of the Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate those who would do the United States and its citizens grave harm. Who would ever believe that the guy who gave J. P. Morgan, Artie Johnson, Rex Reed, and Wink Martindale steady work could be on a short list of those who could kill Fidel Castro? Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is Chuck Barris' story of how the star of the Gong Show was secretly a government assassin. Sam Rockwell of "Charlie's Angel's" and "The Green Mile" fame stars as Chuck Barris and he does a good job with what he is given. He doesn't try to do a Barris impersonation until they cover the Gong Show era, but his general performance is very good. George Clooney directs and costars in the film as the CIA guy who asks Barris to join the organization. Due to his directing duties, Clooney does the classic "walking through the movie" performance, but his bobble headed style of acting works here well enough. There are two potential femme fatales in the movie. Drew Barrymore, who fooled around with Rockwell in Charlie's Angels is Penny, the love interest. There is no character here at all, as she is just there to cheer him on or yell at him when he screws up. Typical romantic with no purpose but to throw in the mandatory love story. Julia Roberts slums it as Barris' liaison contact, Patricia, for various missions. Roberts phones it in like Clooney, but this character is a bit darker than she is used to playing. I am not a big fan of her work, but since she was playing against type, I was more interested in what she would do in this movie than in such movies like "Runaway Bride." To like this movie, you have to be somewhat familiar with the Chuck Barris that is famous for his nutty tv shows. Without that base of knowledge, you will have no idea why you should care what happens to him in the film. The other thing that is troubling is that Barris wrote this "memoir" as if it all really happened. We are to believe that when Barris would chaperone winning dating contestants from The Dating Game to odd European locales, they were actually covers for covert missions. Looking back at when I watched the show, I vaguely remember asking myself "Iceland is a strange place to go for dinner and a movie." Clooney directs in a very stylized manner with scenes running into each other and various time shifts and alternate realities thrown in to make what you are seeing seem unreal yet real at the same time. You can tell it is done by a guy trying to be fancy with camera tricks. Since the spy stuff is most likely B.S., I was more interested in the behind the scenes of the television production. This stuff makes up about a third of the film and is interesting if you are familiar with the shows. Actual footage is mixed with recreated moments and those are done okay. There is also a very funny cameo from two of the "Ocean's 11" cast members as contestants on the dating game. Clooney is known as a clown, so there are various inside jokes like that spread throughout the film. The Gong Show stuff is heavily featured, and many of the side interviews by real celebrities talking about the real Chuck Barris were regulars on the show like J. P. Morgan and Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. Rockwell looks exactly like Barris in some of these scenes by just putting on a wig which is almost eerie since in reality Rockwell looks nothing like the guy. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is adequate entertainment that cannot be taken too seriously. Chuck Barris says he will never admit to what is untrue in his book for as long as he lives. According to him, it all happen one way or another. The actual documented stuff about how he became famous is pretty interesting and that alone is enough for its own movie without all of the point blank shootings. No gonging here. Final Review: 3 stars out of 5; 6 1/2 out of 10; B; thumbs up.

Things are getting better at the box office, but it's a long year.  Bye for now.