Audiences Find 'Nemo'

The voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen Degeneres and others wrested back the top spot from a bunch of streetcar racers.

"Finding Nemo" earned $29.2 million to finish in first at the box office this weekend. "2 Fast 2 Furious" came in second with $19.1 million dollars and "Bruce Almighty" is still going strong in its fourth week with $14.2 million, reports The Early Show entertainment contributor Jess Cagle.

The story about an ocean fish trying to rescue his son has grossed $192.3 million in 17 days of release.

"It's poetic justice that a movie about a father and a son would be the No. 1 movie of Father's Day weekend," said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.

Although it opened at No. 1 the previous weekend, "2 Fast 2 Furious" fell to second place. Ticket sales tumbled 62 percent.

New movies had middling debuts. "Rugrats Go Wild," which blends the Nickelodeon "Rugrats" and "Wild Thornberrys" cartoon franchises, was No. 4 with $12.5 million in ticket sales, followed by the Harrison Ford-Josh Hartnett comedy "Hollywood Homicide" with $11.7 million.

The idiot-buddy prequel "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" was No. 6 with $11.1 million.

Lacking a strong new movie, the overall box office took a dip after rising for two straight weekends. The top 12 movies grossed $118.6 million. That was off 24 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Scooby-Doo" opened with $54.2 million.

Theater business is expected to heat up again this weekend with the arrival of "Hulk." "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" arrives a week later, followed by "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" over Fourth of July weekend.

"It's been a summer of fits and starts, a couple of weekends up, then down the next," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "There's no question that over the next few weeks, starting with `Hulk,' we're going to see a resurgence."

The following are the numbers according to Hollywood.com:

1. "Finding Nemo," $29.2 million.
   
2. "2 Fast 2 Furious," $19.1 million.
   
3. "Bruce Almighty," $14.2 million.
   
4. "Rugrats Go Wild," $12.5 million
   
5. "Hollywood Homicide," $11.7 million.
   
6. "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd," $11.1 million.
   
7. "The Italian Job," $9.5 million.
   
8. "The Matrix Reloaded," $5.5 million.
   
9. "Daddy Day Care," $2.1 million.
   
10. "X2: X-Men United," $1.6 million.