Meanwhile, the Ben Stiller-directed Tropic Thunder, which struggled to a less-than-expected $36.8 million in its first five days while competing with Michael Phelps and his historic chase for eight gold medals in Beijing, held up very strongly with a second-Saturday haul of just under $6.5 million. The R-rated movie-within-a-movie comedy will finish the frame with an estimated $16.1 million, down just 37 percent from last weekend, pushing it to a new cume of just over $65 million. With very light competition over the next month, Thunder still has a real shot at reaching $100 million domestic.

At No. 3 for the weekend is Universal's Death Race, a loose remake of the 1975 film Death Race 2000, produced by the prolific Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul). The R-rated action pic was, as expected, front-loaded, so it followed its $4.6 million Friday with a Saturday of $4.4 million or so, 5 percent lower than opening day. That translates to a $12.29 million opening weekend. That makes for the all-time fourth-best opening for Statham, behind The Italian Job ($19.4 million), The One ($19.1 million) and Transporter 2 ($16.5 million).

Still, Death Race opened stronger than recent Statham offerings The Bank Job ($5.93 million), Crank ($10.4 million), WAR ($9.8 million) and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale ($3 million). The Universal action pic should finish its domestic run with a cume of $30 million-$33 million.

The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) continues to hold strong with an estimated $10.3 million and a new cume of $489.17 million. The Christopher Nolan-directed action picture will pass $500 million domestic by Labor Day. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, another Warner Bros property, held on to No. 5, but it stalled dramatically in its second weekend. The LucasFilm animated film is expected to wrap the frame with just $5.66 million, down 61 percent from its opening three-day haul, for a 10-day cume of $25 million.

The other two wide new wide releases are both disappointments. The Longshots (MGM), starring Ice Cube, appears to have finished eighth overall with just $4.3 million. The Rocker (20th Century Fox) performed even worse than its already dismally low expectations, with a mere $2.75 million for three days and an embarrassing $3.8 million for five days. Don't expect to see Rainn Wilson from The Office above-the-title again anytime soon.

Among limited releases, the immaculately-reviewed Elegy (Samuel Goldwyn), starring Oscar winner Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, scored an excellent $5,400-plus Per Theater Average at 92 locations, and Hamlet 2 (Focus), a hit at Sundance, grabbed over $4,200-plus per theater at 102 locations.

FINAL 3-DAY STUDIO ESTIMATES
1. Tropic Thunder (DreamWorks/Paramount) — $16.1 million, $4,803 PTA, $65.66 million cume
2. The House Bunny (Sony) — $15.1 million, $5,563 PTA, $15.1 million cume
3. Death Race (Universal) — $12.29 million, $4,855 PTA, $12.29 million cume
4. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) — $10.3 million, $3,527 PTA, $489.17 million cume
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Warner Bros.) — $5.66 million, $1,639 PTA, $25 million cume
6. Pineapple Express (Sony) — $5.6 million, $2,137 PTA, $73.92 million cume
7. Mirrors (20th Century Fox) — $4.87 million, $1,829 PTA, $20 million cume
8. The Longshots (MGM) — $4.3 million, $2,060 PTA, $4.3 million cume
9. Mamma Mia (Universal) — $4.3 million, $1,849 PTA, $124.44 million cume
10.  The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) — $4.06 million, $1,680 PTA, $93.81 million cume
* NEW The Rocker (20th Century Fox) — $2.75 million, $987 PTA, $3.8 million cume

FRIDAY 8:30 p.m. (Pacific): The Death Race (Universal) vs. Tropic Thunder (DreamWorks/Paramount) weekend battle I was expecting has not materialized. Instead, Anna Faris as The House Bunny (Sony) has managed an upside surprise, with a well-above-expectations $5.9 million on Friday. Industry tracking pointed toward a strong opening for the Jason Statham action picture, and something softer for the PG-13 comedy Bunny, but that audience research does not always pan out.

For Faris, the always-funny star of the Scary Movie franchise , this represents a box office breakout. In fact, it is her all-time best non-Scary Movie opening, topping Just Friends ($9.2 million). Still, The House Bunny will almost certainly be front-loaded with Females Under 25 showing up on opening day, and it is likely to sink to No. 2 for the weekend with an estimated $14.4 million.

That opens the door for a repeat win for Tropic Thunder, which grabbed an estimated $4.9 million on its second Friday. Michael Phelps and NBC's Olympics coverage has clearly been a drag on the performance of this very funny, critically well-received movie-industry satire, but it will finish with about $15.8 million for the three-day as the Summer Games wind down, representing just a 39 percent drop from last weekend. That will push the Ben Stiller-directed film to over $65 million domestic by Monday morning.

Jason Statham is proving to be a decent, but not surefire Hollywood action star, as Death Race managed a somewhat disappointing $4.3 million on its opening day. With a cast that also includes Oscar nominee Joan Allen (The Contender) and Golden Globe winner Ian McShane (Deadwood), Death Race will likely roll to just $11.9 million for the weekend and a third-place finish.

Death Race 2000, produced by the prolific Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul), was released in 1975 with David Carradine starring and Sylvester Stallone in the role of Machine Gun Joe. This slick update seemed to provide an excellent vehicle for Statham, with Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers, Transformers) in the Stallone role, but the results are a bit lackluster.

If the $11.9 million number holds, Death Race will be stronger than recent Statham openings The Bank Job ($5.93 million), Crank ($10.4 million), WAR ($9.8 million) and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale ($3 million), but it will be well off the top three openings for the action star, behind The Italian Job ($19.4 million), The One ($19.1 million) and Transporter 2 ($16.5 million).

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) continues to battle the forces of evil (as well as diminishing returns), adding $3.02 million to start the weekend. With its usual strong Saturday matinee bounce, the Batman Begins sequel will likely hit an estimated $10.12 million for the frame, lifting TDK to about $489 million. That will be more than enough to forge past the disappointing Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Warner Bros.), which fell to $1.75 million on its second Friday and will stagger to just $5 million for the weekend. The LucasFilm animated pic will probably drop about 66 percent, and its cume by Monday will likely be shy of $25 million.

MGM's The Longshots, starring Ice Cube, picked up just $1.4 million on Friday, and this family-friendly movie will finish in the $4.25 million range, No. 10 for the weekend. The results are disastrous for the Rainn Wilson comedy The Rocker (20th Century Fox). After a dismal take of $2 million on Wednesday-Thursday, the picture could only muster $1 million on Friday, and it seems headed for just $2.9 million. For 20th Century Fox, it is another disappointment in a tough summer that has included The Happening, Space Chimps, Meet Dave and The X-Files, although the studio did score a modest hit with last week's genre pic Mirrors.

EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. The House Bunny (Sony) — $5.6 million, $1,462 PTA, $5.6 million cume
2. Tropic Thunder (DreamWorks/Paramount) — $4.9 million, $1,462 PTA, $54.46 million cume
3. Death Race (Universal) — $4.3 million, $1,699 PTA, $4.3 million cume
4. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) — $3.02 million, $955 PTA, $481.89 million cume
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Warner Bros.) — $1.75 million, $507 PTA, $21.08 million cume
6. Mirrors (20th Century Fox) — $1.62 million, $609 PTA, $16.82 million cume
7. Pineapple Express (Sony) — $1.46 million, $558 PTA, $69.78 million cume
8. The Longshots (MGM) — $1.4 million, $670 PTA, $1.4 million cume
9. Mamma Mia (Universal) — $1.35 million, $581 PTA, $121.5 million cume
10. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) — $1.29 million, $536 PTA, $91.03 million cume
* NEW The Rocker (20th Century Fox) — $1 million, $359 PTA, $2.05 million cume