By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Ice Age," an animated comedy about a family of prehistoric beasts, melted the hearts of moviegoers in North America, and helped propel weekend box office receipts to their highest level of the year, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

With strong bows by two other new releases -- the horror picture "Resident Evil" at No. 2 and police spoof "Showtime" at No. 3 -- and solid results from holdovers, it seemed there was a film for every taste.

"Ice Age" led the way with $47.9 million since its March 15 bow, smashing the old three-day record for a March release -- $31.4 million for Jim Carrey's "Liar Liar" in 1997. It becomes the third best animated opening of all time after "Monsters, Inc." ($62.6 million) and "Toy Story 2" ($57.4 million).

Budgeted in the high $50 million range, "Ice Age" ends a jinx for its distributor Twentieth Century Fox, whose efforts to break the cartoon dominance of Walt Disney Co. and closely held DreamWorks SKG resulted in the middling "Anastasia" and the disastrous "Titan A.E."

Going into the weekend, Fox had forecast an opening in the $30 million range, said Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at the Fox Entertainment Inc. -owned studio. The film revolves around a woolly mammoth and a sloth (voiced by Ray Romano and John Leguizamo) who discover a human baby.

Families accounted for 70 percent of the audience. But the studios did not ignore other demographics. Youngsters rushed to "Resident Evil" (Screen Gems), a horror picture based on a popular video game, which scared up $18.2 million. Older fans made time for "Showtime" (Warner Bros.), a comedy starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy, which collared $15.4 million.

BOX OFFICE REACHES $124 MILLION

Last week's champion, the time-travel adventure "The Time Machine" (DreamWorks), fell to No. 4 with $10.9 million, while Mel Gibson's Vietnam War saga "We Were Warriors" (Paramount) dropped to No. 5 with $8.8 million in its third round.

According to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films grossed $124.2 million, up 49 percent from last weekend, and up 71 percent from the year-ago period when "Exit Wounds" opened at No. 1 with $18.5 million. The last time receipts were this high was the holiday-boosted Dec. 28-30 weekend, when the top 12 tallied $147 million.

Fox also had a good weekend in the limited-release arena, as the lesbian romance "Kissing Jessica Stein" pulled in $355,000 from 26 theaters in six cities. The comedy, released by its Fox Searchlight unit, will add cities over the next few weeks before going national in 400-500 theaters on April 5.

Budgeted at under $1 million, the independently made film revolves around a woman who switches teams when she tires of meeting ineligible men. Its themes of loneliness and friendship resonated with women of all persuasions, said Steve Gilula, president of distribution at Fox Searchlight.

Among the major debuts, the numbers for zombie thriller "Resident Evil" were boosted by actresses Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, who drew young women to a film that ordinarily would be dominated by males, said Jeff Blake, president of distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Sony Corp (news - web sites). -owned parent of Screen Gems.

Sony acquired North American distribution rights from its German producer, Constantin Film, which is moving ahead with a sequel, said Mitch Horwits, president of Constantin's U.S.-based unit.

The bow for "Showtime" was on target, said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros., a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc . The film, which cost over $50 million, pulled in an audience that was 60 percent over 25 years. De Niro and Murphy play two real-life cops enlisted to play themselves as a TV crew follows them on their rounds.

'TIME' TICKS AT $40 MILLION

After 10 days in release, the adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" has earned $40.1 million. Directed by Wells' great-grandson, Simon Wells, it stars Australian actor Guy Pearce and Irish pop singer Samantha Mumba.

The sci-fi film lost a hefty 52 percent of its audience, as did another new release from last weekend, "All About the Benjamins." The crime comedy, starring rapper Ice Cube, fell three places to No. 6 with $4.9 million and a 10-day haul of $17.4 million. New Line is also owned by AOL Time Warner.

"We Were Warriors" has collected $53.6 million after 17 days. The film was budgeted in the $70 million range. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc .

With one week ahead of the Academy Awards (news - web sites) in Hollywood, the top 10 contained only one best picture nominee, "A Beautiful Mind" at No. 9. The Russell Crowe drama earned $3.4 million, as its 87-day total rose to $149.2 million. It was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA .

Leading Oscar nominee "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (New Line) fell one spot to No. 11 with $2.1 million and a 89-day haul of $294.3 million. "Rings" has 13 nominations, while "Mind" has eight, tied with "Moulin Rouge," which is available on home video.

New releases next weekend include "Blade 2," the 20th anniversary reissue of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and the college comedy "Sorority Boys."

The top movies in North America -- March 15-17

Mon Mar 18, 6:26 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the March 15-17 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Ice Age .......... $46,312,454

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $46,312,454

2. Resident Evil .......... $17,707,106

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,707,106

3. Showtime .......... $15,011.430

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $15,011,430

4. The Time Machine .......... $10,795,951

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,936,148

5. We Were Soldiers .......... $8,488,331

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $53,326,665

6. All About the Benjamins .......... $4,990,628

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,575,723

7. 40 Days and 40 Nights .......... $4,358,186

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $29,856,657

8. John Q. .......... $3,622,711

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $64,377,947

9. A Beautiful Mind .......... $3,380,260

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $149,205,356

10. Return to Never Land .......... $2,122,386

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $45,184,951

Reuters/Variety

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