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Los Angeles — The Will Ferrell NASCAR send-up "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" easily lapped the competition over the weekend, topping the box office with more than $47 million in ticket sales.

The comedy from Sony Pictures was the biggest-ever opening for Ferrell in a starring role.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.:

1. "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," Sony, $47,042,215, 3,803 locations, $12,370 average, $47,042,215, one week.

2. "Barnyard: The Original Party Animals," Paramount, $15,820,864, 3,311 locations, $4,778 average, $15,820,864, one week.

3. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," Disney, $11,001,686, 3,436 locations, $3,202 average, $379,699,644, five weeks.

4. "Miami Vice," Universal, $10,227,880, 3,026 locations, $3,380 average, $46,284,665, two weeks.

5. "The Descent," Lionsgate, $8,911,330, 2,095 locations, $4,254 average, $8,911,330, one week.

6. "John Tucker Must Die," Fox, $6,150,596, 2,566 locations, $2,397 average, $28,723,356, two weeks.

7. "Monster House," Sony, $6,058,649, 3,029 locations, $2,000 average, $57,010,414, three weeks.

8. "The Ant Bully," Warner Bros., $3,892,443, 3,050 locations, $1,276 average, $18,152,994, two weeks.

9. "You, Me and Dupree," Universal, $3,643,430, 2,263 locations, $1,610 average, $66,822,635, four weeks.

10. "The Night Listener," Miramax, $3,554,134, 1,367 locations, $2,600 average, $3,554,134, one week.

11. "The Devil Wears Prada," Fox, $3,046,881, 1,453 locations, $2,097 average, $112,707,816, six weeks.

12. "Lady in the Water," Warner Bros., $2,711,191, 2,670 locations, $1,015 average, $38,633,274, three weeks.

13. "Little Man," Sony, $2,541,166, 1,561 locations, $1,628 average, $55,093,150, four weeks.

14. "Superman Returns," Warner Bros., $2,158,227, 1,710 locations, $1,262 average, $190,176,570, six weeks.

15. "Scoop," Focus Features, $1,811,050, 541 locations, $3,348 average, $6,280,168, two weeks.

16. "Little Miss Sunshine," Fox Searchlight, $1,480,193, 58 locations, $25,521 average, $2,218,375, two weeks.

17. "Clerks II," MGM, 1,315,286, 1,496 locations, $879 average, $22,303,202, three weeks.

18. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," Fox, $1,216,996, 1,093 locations, $1,113 average, $20,335,659, three weeks.

19. "Cars," Disney, $1,084,684, 942 locations, $1,151 average, $237,517,306, nine weeks.

20. "Click," Sony, $750,387, 651 locations, $1,153 average, $134,344,223, seven weeks.

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; DreamWorks is a unit of DreamWorks SKG Inc.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.