March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.’s “Watchmen” opened with $55.7 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to extend Hollywood’s winning streak at the box office to a fifth weekend of year-over-year increases.

The dark superhero film, based on the 1986 graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, sold out 124 midnight showings at Imax Corp. theaters en route to the year’s best debut weekend yet.

Audiences are flocking to theaters in the sour economy, drawn by the relative bargain of a $10 movie ticket when compared with a live sporting event or a concert, said researcher Paul Dergarabedian. Domestic ticket sales have climbed 17 percent year-to-date, bolstered by records set in January and February, while attendance has advanced 15 percent.

“People need entertainment, they need to go out of the home, but it’s a price-point thing,” said Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers LLC. “I look at it as a very inexpensive form of therapy.”

Comedies like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” and action movies such as “Watchmen” and News Corp.’s “Taken” have led the way.

“Blart,” released by Sony Corp., is the box-office leader among 2009 releases with $133.6 million. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s “Madea” has the second-biggest open with $41 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and is fourth overall with $76.5 million. “Taken,” showing staying power, moved up one spot over the weekend to third in its sixth week in theaters.

“A lot of movies are continuing to have legs at the box office,” said Gitesh Pandya, the editor of Box Office Guru LLC. “‘Taken’ is doing gangbusters week after week.”

Warner Bros.

Time Warner’s Warner Bros., the biggest-grossing film studio in 2008, is holding its lead this year with a varied slate that includes “Watchmen”; the romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You,” third at the box office; and the horror film “Friday the 13th,” in seventh place.

Through March 5, Warner had grossed $342 million in the U.S. and Canada, followed by Sony with $280 million and News Corp. with $260 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

“They pick good release dates,” Dergarabedian said. “They know how to market them and nurture them into the marketplace.”

“Watchmen” missed some estimates it would take in as much as $70 million and threaten “300,” which set the record for a March opening for Warner Bros. in 2007. Both films were directed by Zack Snyder.

News Corp. also is rooting for the movie to do well. In January, the company’s Twentieth Century Fox settled a lawsuit with Warner that threatened to block the release of “Watchmen.” The accord followed a federal judge’s ruling in Los Angeles that Fox owned a distribution right.

‘Significant Drop’

“Watchmen” is likely to reach $100 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, Dergarabedian said. The movie’s “R” rating and its length, 2 hours and 43 minutes, may limit the audience, he said.

The film will likely have a “significant” drop in sales next weekend because many fans came out the first weekend, said Pandya. He had projected a $64 million open and says “Watchmen” may generate $140 million to $150 million domestically.

“This was a movie that was always meant to bring out most of the fan base in the first week or two,” Pandya said. “It’s not a property that is universally known.”

Steve Mason, a film analyst at Big Hollywood.com, had estimated an opening of $70 million.

The “Watchmen” plot adheres to the comic book, named by Time magazine as one of the best novels of all time.

Cold War

“Watchmen” is set during a time of tense Cold War relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. A group of superheroes investigate the murder of a colleague, and their probe gradually reveals a plot tied to the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The film, co-starring Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino, cost about $130 million to make, according to Internet Movie Database.

At the box office this week, “Slumdog Millionaire” was in fourth place with $6.93 million. The News Corp. film, riding its eight Academy Awards including best picture, has earned $125.4 million domestically since November. “Blart” climbed one spot to fifth place with $4.2 million.

Receipts for the top 12 movies rose 18 percent to $103 million, Los Angeles-based Media By Numbers said.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Media By Numbers. The amounts are based on actual ticket sales from March 6 and 7, and estimates for yesterday.

Movie             Rev.   Theaters  Wks     Avg./   Pct.  Total
                ($mln)                   Theater   Chg.  ($mln)
1. Watchmen     $55.7    3,611     1    $15,413    --   $55.7
2. Madea          8.8    2,151     3      4,091   -46    76.5
3. Taken          7.45   3,016     6      2,470   -24   118.0
4. Slumdog        6.93   2,890    17      2,396   -42   125.4
5. Paul Blart     4.2    2,558     8      1,642   -25   133.6
6. Not Into You   4.02   2,445     5      1,644   -33    84.6
7. Coraline       3.31   1,497     5      2,213   -37    65.7
8. Shopaholic     3.14   2,290     4      1,371   -32    38.4
9. Jonas Brothers 2.79   1,276     2      2,183   -78    16.8
10. Fired Up      2.6    1,790     3      1,453   -30    13.4

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite@bloomberg.net; Anthony Palazzo in Los Angeles at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 9, 2009 00:00 EDT