As most of us expected, Robert Zemeckis's second motion capture CGI flick (after the family flick The Polar Express) Beowulf took the gold crown at the box office this weekend, but the $27 million total from 3,153 screens ($8.7k average) might not be enough to push the $150 million budgeted flick into the black domestically, although worldwide totals should prove to be profitable.
The bigger question, though, is has Zemeckis revolutionized film with this new technology?
The answer, if you ask me, is that we really don't know yet. The numbers don't approach the $70 million opening of Zach Snyder's 300, which most closely approximated the look of Beowulf, although the CGI there was only applied to the backgrounds and not the actors. Beowulf's numbers are also a bit below the $29 million opening of Pixar's first Toy Story flick, which also tested audience's ability to accept a completely new look in a film. However, Toy Story demonstrated great legs, winding up with $191 million domestically and a $361 million total worldwide. If you ask me, Beowulf won't have that kind of staying power, but again, overseas appeal could drive the worldwide numbers higher.
Interestingly, while Hollywood execs are watching with keen interest, many are already banking on the new technology, with projects like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's TinTin and James Cameron's Avatars already moving forward. If Beowulf takes a big hit next week (The Mist could take a chunk of the targeted teenage audience), execs may find themselves regretting their hasty greenlight.
Speaking of Spielberg, in second place was Dreamworks Animation's Bee Movie, hanging on respectably with $14 million in it's second week and a $93 million total. Still, the third place (and R rated) American Gangster has outgrossed the kid pick by bringing in $12 million for a $100 million total, in spite of costing $50 million less. Bee Movie is sure to do better on DVD, though.
Fred Claus had a surprisingly sturdy second week, slipping just 35% to $12 million and a $35 million total. That's still not gangbusters money for a holiday family film, but should be good enough to cover costs. It helped that Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emportium (I am tired of writing that already, so henceforth it shall be known as MMWE) opened poorly in fifth place with $9.6 million from 3,164 theatres for a $3k average. 
It's no surprise that Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman aren't quite the same draw as Vince Vaughn, and Claus-like legs might help soften the blow, but this is nevertheless a big disappointment for writer/director Zach Helm and Fox. Jason Bateman, who has a supporting role in the film, continues a bad run at trying to break into features, following Smokin' Aces, The Ex , and The Kingdom. I loved Bateman's work on Arrested Development, but he's running out of chances. I still have high hopes for him in the Will Smith vehicle Hancock (from Kingdom director Peter Berg).
Dan in Real Life continues to have some luck drawing adult audiences, dropping only 27% from last week to $4 million and a decent $36 million total. All those brilliant reviews helped No Country for Old Men climb into the top ten, bringing in $3 million dollars from just 148 screens for an exceptional $20k average. Numbers like this are going to go a long way toward helping the Coen Bros' flick secure some Oscar noms, especially if this heat keeps up as it continues to expand.
Lions for Lambs fell hard as word of mouth spread, dropping 56% in its second week for a $2.8 million weekend and just an $11 million total. If you need any more evidence that movies centering around the Middle East conflict are tanking left and right, I'll point to the $25k limited opening of Brian De Palma's Redacted, which averaged just $1.7k from 15 theatres. It'll never see a wide release, and De Palma desperately needs his Untouchables sequel Capon Rising to do well. I like the idea of Gerard Butler in the Capone role, but I lost all faith in De Palma after Femme Fatale.
Saw IV finished in ninth place with $2.2 million, down 54%, for an unexpectedly healthy $61 million total. And finally, Mike Newell's Love in the Time of Cholera opened poorly in tenth place with just $1.9 million from 852 screens for a $2.2k average. That's bad news for Newell, who was hot off Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but at least star Javier Bardem is riding so high on No Country that this shouldn't affect him much.