July 29 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Simpsons Movie'' opened with $71.9 million in ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend, leading at the box office and providing a boost to News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox film studio.

``I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'' from General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures fell to second place with $19.1 million in sales, raising its two-week total to $71.6 million, box office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in a statement. Another film opening in wide release, ``No Reservations,'' took fifth, earning $11.8 million for Time Warner Inc.

The animated ``Simpsons'' film is based on the Fox television series starring the bright-yellow Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The movie may boost sales at Fox, which was in fifth place at the U.S. box office this year as of July 22, with sales down 38 percent from 2006, according to researcher Box Office Mojo LLC.

In the film, Homer is blamed for an environmental disaster in Springfield, the family's home town. ``The Simpsons Movie'' opened in 3,922 theaters, according to Burbank, California-based Box Office Mojo.

Warner Bros.' ``No Reservations'' co-stars Catherine Zeta- Jones as a career-obsessed chef whose life is turned upside down by the arrivals of her 9-year-old niece Zoe, played by Abigail Breslin, and her new sous-chef Nick, played by Aaron Eckhart.

``Chuck and Larry''

Universal's ``Chuck and Larry'' co-stars Kevin James as a widower whose plan to gain benefits for his children by marrying Sandler's character unravels when the two come under scrutiny from an overzealous city bureaucrat.

The latest ``Harry Potter'' film fell to third place from second in its third week in release, taking in $17.1 million for a U.S. total of $241.8 million.

``Order of the Phoenix,'' which continues the story of the boy wizard and his struggle against the evil Lord Voldemort, was made for about $150 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

``Hairspray,'' from Time Warner's New Line Cinema, which opened third last week, came in fourth with $15.6 million. The movie is based on the Broadway play about teenagers performing on a television dance show. John Travolta, in drag, plays the mother of an overweight teen who wins a spot on the program.

``Transformers,'' the film about robotic beings who save humanity, fell to sixth place from fourth, with sales of $11.5 million. Shia LaBeouf stars as a young man caught up in a battle between evil Decepticons and noble Autobots.

Walt Disney Co.'s ``Ratatouille'' fell to seventh from fifth, taking in $7.2 million. The animated film from Disney's Pixar unit follows a rat who wants to become a chef in Paris. The movie has made $179.7 million in five weeks.

Year to Date

Rounding out the top 10 were News Corp.'s ``Live Free or Die Hard'' in eighth place with $5.4 million; Sony's ``I Know Who Killed Me'' in ninth place with $3.4 million; and Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer's ``Who's Your Caddy'' at No. 10 with $2.9 million.

Sales for the top 12 films rose 45 percent to $168.6 million this weekend from a year earlier, Encino, California-based Media By Numbers said. Year-to-date sales have increased 5.4 percent to $5.81 billion, while attendance has gained 1.7 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gillian Wee in New York at gwee3@bloomberg.net; Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 29, 2007 13:31 EDT