Violently taking over the number one spot on Friday was the new horror film Hostel which debuted with an estimated $7.6M to end the reign of big-budget beast films over the past month. The opening day gross was slightly better than the $6.9M that Lions Gate generated from its brutal 2004 fright flick Saw which went on to collect $18.3M for the weekend. Hostel looks to make a powerful debut this weekend with around $18-20M over three days from only 2,195 theaters.

Expanding from 532 to 1,485 theaters on Friday was Steven Spielberg's political thriller Munich which grossed $2.3M. The Universal release should take in roughly $7M over the weekend. Another expansion this weekend came from Buena Vista's Casanova jumping from 37 to 1,004 locations and romancing an estimated $1.2M on Friday. A weekend gross of just under $4M seems likely.

With Hostel monopolizing the attention of young men, two new male-skewing releases failed to debut in the top ten on Friday. Fox's comedy Grandma's Boy grossed an estimated $1M and should take in less than $3M for the weekend. Romar Entertainment's sci-fi thriller Bloodrayne bowed to an estimated $400,000 and might make it to $1M for the three-day period.

Among holdovers, Friday-to-Friday declines were 58% for The Chronicles of Narnia, 60% for King Kong, and only 38% for Fun with Dick and Jane.

Visit the NEW Top 20 chart of top-grossing films from 2005. Be sure to check the Golden Globe chart which tracks the box office of the major nominees with weekly updates throughout awards season.

Last Updated: January 7, 2006 at 12:00PM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya