Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co.'s ``Hero,'' a martial- arts film starring Jet Li, opened as the top film in the U.S. and Canada with $17.8 million in ticket sales over the weekend.

Sony Corp.'s ``Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid,'' a horror film about scientists and snakes in the jungles of Borneo, opened in second with $13.2 million. Viacom Inc.'s comedy ``Without a Paddle'' fell to third with $8.7 million in sales, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

``Hero'' is only the third film from Disney studios to open at No. 1 this year, following its Buena Vista unit's ``The Village,'' released in July, and Miramax Film's ``Kill Bill, Vol. 2'' in April. Disney, which led all owners of Hollywood studios last year with $2.22 billion in domestic box-office sales, ranks fourth this year through last Sunday with $794.8 million, according to Nielsen EDI.

``The fact that so many turned out (for `Hero'), which didn't get a lot of advertising, didn't open on that many screens and is in Chinese with English subtitles says a lot,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, a movie-industry Web site. ``Given the weak competition in terms of new releases at this point I expect it to be in the top 10 through September.''

`Princess Diaries 2'

``Hero,'' set in ancient China, tells the story of an aggressive emperor and a nameless warrior who wants revenge for the massacre of his people. It's being distributed by Miramax.

In ``Anacondas,'' scientists journey down a jungle river in search of an orchid that produces a youth-preserving serum. They discover that within the jungle lies a deadly predator which keeps the orchids safe. ``Without a Paddle'' follows a trio of young men on a wilderness canoe trip disrupted by encounters with farmers, girls and a mountain man played by Burt Reynolds.

Disney's romantic comedy, ``Princess Diaries 2,'' dropped to fourth from third with $8.07 million. The movie stars Anne Hathaway as a young princess who must deal with the revelation that she will soon be crowned queen and faces an arranged marriage.

Time Warner's ``Exorcist: The Beginning,'' a ``prequel'' to the 1973 horror classic ``The Exorcist,'' fell to fifth from last week's first place spot with $6.7 million. In ``Exorcist: The Beginning,'' a disillusioned priest played by Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard confronts demonic forces at a remote archeological site.

`Suspect Zero'

Dreamworks SKG's ``Collateral,'' starring Tom Cruise as a hit man, remained in sixth place with $6.3 million. ``Open Water,'' the shark-terror film from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., fell to seventh place from fifth last week with $5 million in its second week of wide release.

News Corp.'s ``Alien vs. Predator'' fell to eighth from fourth place with $4.8 million in ticket sales. General Electric Co.'s ``The Bourne Supremacy,'' a Universal Studios espionage thriller starring Matt Damon, fell to ninth from seventh with $4.6 million.

Viacom's ``Suspect Zero'' premiered in 10th place with $3.4 million in receipts.

Sales for the Top 12 films fell less than 1 percent to $84.7 million from the same period a year earlier, Encino, California- based Exhibitor Relations said.

For the top 10, Disney films had the largest market share this weekend with $25.9 million, followed by Sony with $13.2 million, Paramount at $12.1 million, Time Warner with $6.7 million, Dreamworks at $6.3 million, Lions Gate with $5 million, News Corp. at $4.8 million and General Electric with $4.6 million. Among companies with major Hollywood studios, only Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. failed to place a film in the top 10.

The weekend results were based on actual grosses for Friday and Saturday and estimates for today. The following chart contains figures provided by studios to Exhibitor Relations.

                       Rev    Movie  Weeks  Avg/    Pct   Total
                     ($Mln)  Screens  Out  Screen   Chg  ($Mln)

1. Hero               $17.8   2,031    1   $8,765    --   $17.8
2. Anacondas           13.2   2,905    1    4,544    --    13.2
3. Without a Paddle     8.7   2,730    2    3,187   -36%   27.9
4. Princess Diaries 2   8.1   3,331    3    2,422   -38    75.1
5. Exorcist             6.7   2,813    2    2,394   -63    30.8
6. Collateral           6.3   2,728    4    2,309   -38    80.0
7. Open Water           5.0   2,709    4    1,846   -56    23.5
8. Alien vs. Predator   4.8   2,880    3    1,667   -61    72.1
9. Bourne Supremacy     4.6   2,079    6    2,213   -29   157.7
10. Suspect Zero        3.4   1,500    1    2,267    --     3.4

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Armitage in Los Angeles at aarmitage@bloomberg.net; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 29, 2004 16:05 EDT