By Sarah Tippit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Family comedy "Bringing Down the House," starring Steve Martin (news) and Oscar nominee Queen Latifah in a spoof on race relations, was the top film at the North American box office in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

"House," Walt Disney Co.'s lively satire of racism in America, grossed $31.7 million in Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales, according to industry box office service Exhibitor Relations. The film handily surpassed the other big release of the weekend, "Tears of the Sun," an action war film starring Bruce Willis (news), which opened at No. 2 with $17.2 million.

As industry watchers had predicted, "House" seemed to benefit from all the Oscar buzz generated by Latifah's nomination as best supporting actress in the musical "Chicago."

In "House," the hip-hop singer-turned-actress plays a wrongly imprisoned woman who while in jail strikes up an online relationship with a divorced tax attorney played by Martin. When released from prison, she looks him up to help her appeal her conviction. When he balks, she invades his house, life and family business with the intention of embarrassing him into submission. Her plan eventually works, and Martin's character grows in the process.

In "Tears," a very different sort of movie, Willis plays a hard-nosed Navy SEAL lieutenant who undergoes a crisis of conscience as he rescues an American doctor (played by Monica Belucci) and her patients from a fictitious civil war.

While the film grossed much less than its opening weekend rival, studio executives said they were pleased with ticket sales as both films were aimed at a similar demographic: young male audiences.

"We probably would have been No. 1 had it not been for 'Bringing Down the House,' which was a monster hit," said Tom Sherak, a partner at Revolution Studios which produced the Sony-distributed Willis film. "We are all very thrilled with the numbers based on how movies have been opening over the last six months and we're hoping we're going to have a very good run."

Trailing after the two newcomers was the bawdy buddy DreamWorks comedy "Old School," which ranked No. 3 with $9.2 million, followed by "Chicago," a front-runner for this year's best-picture Oscar, which moved up a notch over the weekend to No. 4 from No. 5 and grossed $6.9 million amid a flurry of pre-Academy Awards (news - web sites) advertising.

"Chicago," released by Disney's Miramax films and starring Richard Gere (news) and Renee Zellweger (news) -- is already leading the Oscar pack with 13 nominations. Its total cumulative ticket sales to date are $114.5 million.

Last week's No. 4 film, "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days," dropped to No. 5 with $6.8 million for the weekend, down 34 percent from a week earlier. Parmount Pictures' romantic comedy, starring Kate Hudson (news) and Matthew McConaughey (news), has grossed $86.9 million to date.

Last week's top box office pick, "Cradle 2 the Grave," a martial arts action film with an urban attitude, fell to No. 6 over the weekend with $6.6 million, down 60 percent from a week earlier.

In seventh place was "Daredevil," a Marvel Comics adaptation starring Ben Affleck (news) with $5.1 million. The film, released by 20th Century Fox, dropped 54 percent from a week earlier. Since opening four weeks ago "Daredevil" has grossed $91.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was "The Jungle Book 2," Disney's low-budget sequel to the 1967 cartoon, which fell to No. 8 from No. 6 a week earlier, grossing $4.2 million. Taking No. 9 was another Disney film, "Shanghai Knights," a period comedy starring Jackie Chan (news) and Owen Wilson (news), grossing $2.7 million. The film fell two notches from last week.

In the No. 10 spot was Kevin Spacey (news)'s death penalty drama, "The Life of David Gale," grossing $2.1 million. The film, which fell from No. 8 a week earlier, co-stars Kate Winslet (news) and was released by Universal Pictures.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the March 7-9 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

1. Bringing Down the House .......... $31,101,025

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $31,101,025

2. Tears of the Sun .......... $17,057,213

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,057,213

3. Old School .......... $9,190,062

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $50,768,507

4. Chicago .......... $6,844,634

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $114,442,185

5. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days .......... $6,688,678

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $86,885,012

6. Cradle 2 The Grave .......... $6,535,475

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $26,878,648

7. Daredevil .......... $5,214,469

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $91,536,021

8. The Jungle Book 2 .......... $4,258,002

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,521,501

9. Shanghai Knights .......... $2,688,514

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $54,749,445

10. The Life of David Gale .......... $2,124,235

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,112,765

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  After being in the entertainment business for 15 years, Queen Latifah has arrived.  Bringin' Down the House may have a controversial plot, but it is all in fun and the general public tends to get the joke.  Due to being behind schedule, more next week.