'Chihuahua' mauls DiCaprio and Crowe at box office

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The film, which stars Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio as CIA agents battling a terrorist organization in the Middle East, took the no. 3 slot with $13.1 million, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The family comedy "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" took the no. 1 spot for the second weekend in a row with $17.5 million, taking its 10-day haul to $52.5 million.

The horror flick "Quarantine" which is a low-budget zombie movie, took the no. 2 spot with $14.2 million. The $12 million film was released by Screen Gems, a unit of Sony Corp.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, had high hopes for "body of Lies" and hoped that the movie would open at no. 1 with a three-day sum possibly reaching the high-teen millions.

Dan Fellman is the studio's domestic distribution president and he said that he was a little disappointed and said that the movie was too good for the gross in recorded.

The movie was directed by British filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott and DiCaprio plays an Arabic-speaking field agent who teams up with Jordanian spies to uncover a dangerous terrorist operation. Crowe plays DiCaprio's boss back in the United States.

Fellman suggested that the film's subject matter may have caused moviegoers to look for more uplifting material as world leaders race to head off the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. Fellman went on to say that explains the strong hold for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" which is one of the few comedies in theaters.

Fellman also said that it did not help other Iraq war-related movies such as "Rendition," "Redacted," "Stop-Loss" and "In the Valley of Elah" which have all bombed at the box office.

According to Fellman the film cost $70 million to make but rival studios said that they think it might have cost twice as much because of the hefty pay that DiCaprio, Crowe and Scott are getting.