After several one movie weekends, three major pictures targeting different audiences debuted—heist comedy Ocean's Thirteen, animated Surf's Up and horror Hostel Part II—and each disappointed to varying degrees.

Leading the pack, Ocean's Thirteen gathered $36.1 million on approximately 5,600 screens at 3,565 theaters. Featuring a plethora of name actors including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Al Pacino and the same laid back and loose tone of its predecessors, the Warner Bros. picture's start displayed the ongoing allure of the star-powered caper sub-genre.

Still, Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve each had higher-grossing openings than Ocean's Thirteen, and the disparity is enhanced when ticket-price inflation is taken into account as well as the time of year. The first two were December releases when the holidays can bolster weekdays beyond summertime levels. Therefore, it may be in Thirteen's cards to cash out below Twelve's $125.5 million final take.

Catching $17.6 million on approximately 4,700 screens at 3,528 sites, Sony's surfing penguins comedy Surf's Up debuted on the low end of high profile computer-animated features. Penguins have been hits recently in Madagascar, March of the Penguins and Happy Feet, but Surf's Up's late in the game, and what differentiated it—the sports and mockumentary angles—also limited its appeal. Surfing has been such an unpopular movie subject that Surf's Up will likely become the highest-grossing surfing movie on record.

Hostel Part II became the latest horror sequel to draw less than its previous movie, grossing $8.2 million on approximately 2,900 screens at 2,350 sites. The first Hostel opened to $18.7 million and closed with $47.3 million last year, but since then the torture horror sub-genre has reached overkill, all the movies bleeding into one and none standing out at the box office. More fundamental to the genre, though, is the fact that it's perceptually-bound. After the initial scare or shock of the first movie, interest rapidly evaporates for seconds. As a consolation, Hostel Part II had a relatively low production budget like its brethren, costing about $10 million.

Among holdovers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's descent continued, falling 52 percent to $21.1 million for $253.4 million in 17 days. By comparison, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was off 44 percent in its third weekend to $35.2 million (with $321.9 million in the till). Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 followed suit with lower weekend grosses and steeper drops than their predecessors at the same point.

Knocked Up held well in its second weekend, making $19.6 million for a $65.9 million haul in ten days. The comedy's 36 percent drop was better than The Break-Up's 48 percent on the same weekend last year, but bigger than The 40-Year-Old Virgin's 24 percent. Brandon Gray