Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- “Four Christmases,” a comedy about an unmarried couple forced to visit their families on Christmas, was the top movie at U.S. and Canadian theaters during the Thanksgiving weekend.

The film from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. studio earned $31.7 million during the three-day weekend and $46.7 million during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday that began Nov. 26, box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e- mailed statement.

“‘Four Christmases” is the perfect Thanksgiving weekend movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, in an interview. “Families like this type of movie to really kick off the holiday season.”

The Warner Bros. film is the first No. 1 for the studio since the reign of “The Dark Knight” ended in August. The Batman saga, which became the second highest-grossing film of all time with $471.5 million in receipts, has helped cement the studio’s lead in 2008 box-office sales with $1.58 billion before this weekend, according to researcher Box Office Mojo LLC.

‘Bolt’

“Four Christmases” stars Vince Vaughn and Academy Award- winning actress Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles. The couple must spend the holiday at the homes of their four divorced parents after being fogged in at the airport while trying to escape to a sunny resort.

Walt Disney Co.’s “Bolt,” an animated film featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, was second with $26.6 million in weekend sales and $39.5 million during the five-day period. The movie is the first from Walt Disney Animation since Pixar’s John Lasseter took the reins in 2006.

“Twilight,” the vampire romance popular with teenage girls, dropped to third from first last weekend with $26.4 million during the weekend and $36 million over the Thanksgiving period.

The movie, from Summit Entertainment LLC, opened to $69.6 million last weekend, the second-most successful independent film debut after “The Passion of the Christ,” which made $83.8 million. “Twilight” is adapted from a series of books by Stephenie Meyer that cumulatively has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S., according to Publishers Weekly.

‘Australia’

In the film, high-school student Bella moves to a small town in Washington. She discovers a family of vampires who prey on animals instead of people and ultimately falls for Edward, one of the members.

The James Bond thriller “Quantum of Solace” slid to fourth from second with $19.5 million this weekend and $28.1 million during the Thanksgiving holiday. The movie, which is the second to star Daniel Craig as the British super spy, follows Bond in his attempt to unravel the conspiracy that led to the death of his love, Vesper Lynd, in “Casino Royale.”

The movie, distributed by Sony Corp. and Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Inc., has earned $142 million in three weeks since its Nov. 16 opening.

“Australia,” Baz Luhrmann’s $125 million epic released this weekend by News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox film studio, finished fifth, earning $14.8 million and $20 million during the five days.

Luhrmann’s ode to his home country, about an English woman who inherits a ranch in the northern part of the continent at the outset of World War II, features Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the lead roles.

‘Milk’

Rounding out the top 10 in sixth through 10th place, respectively, were: “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., with $14.5 million; “Transporter 3,” from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., earned $12.3 million; General Electric Co.’s “Role Models” in eighth place at $5.28 million; “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” from Disney’s Miramax, with $1.69 million; and “Milk,” from General Electric’s Focus Features, at $1.38 million.

Receipts for the top 12 movies rose 4.1 percent to $156 million from a year earlier, Encino, California-based Media By Numbers said. For the year, box-office sales totaled $8.6 billion. Year-to-date attendance is down 4 percent.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Media By Numbers. The amounts are based on gross ticket sales from Nov. 28 and yesterday and estimates for today.

Movie                 Rev.  Theaters  Wks   Avg./    Pct. Total
                     (mln)                 Theater   Chg. (mln)
                      F-S-S
 1. Four Christmases  $31.7   3,310   1  $ 9,571    --   $46.7
 2. Bolt               26.6   3,652   2    7,283      1   66.8
 3. Twilight           26.4   3,425   2    7,699    -62  119.7
 4. Quantum of Solace  19.5   3,501   3    5,570    -27  142.1
 5. Australia          14.8   2,642   1    5,607    --    20.0
 6. Madagascar         14.5   3,709   4    3,909     -7  159.5
 7. Transporter 3      12.3   2,626   1    4,695    --    18.5
 8. Role Models         5.28  2,195   4    2,408    -28   57.9
 9. Striped Pajamas     1.69    582   4    2,904      3    5.2
10. Milk                1.38     36   1   38,375    --     1.9

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net; Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 30, 2008 15:34 EST