Box Office: Pixar Rat Bests John McClane

Ratatouille courtesy Pixar/Disney
Ratatouille
topped the weekend box office with a $47.2 million debut, yet fell shy of the $50-65 million opening that experts had estimated. What's more, it was Pixar's smallest bow since 1998's
A Bug's Life, and is on pace to be the studio's third straight project to underperform its predecessor.
Coming in second was Bruce Willis and the Mac guy's
Live Free or Die Hard, which took in $33.2 mil for the weekend (and $48.2 mil dating back to its Wednesday debut). Rounding out the top five were
Evan Almighty ($15.1 mil),
1408 ($10.6 mil) and
Fantastic Four 2 ($9 mil).
Michael Moore's
Sicko opened at No. 9 (with $4.5 mil) while the estrogen-tastic
Evening bowed in the 10 spot with $3.5 mil.