New Line Cinema's R rated comedy sequel Friday After Next kicked off in third place to a lively ESTIMATED $13.06 million at 1,616 theaters ($8,084 per theater).

Directed by Marcus Raboy, it stars Ice Cube and Mike Epps.

"It's right about where we figured we'd be," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "And we're happy."

Buena Vista/Disney's G rated comedy sequel Santa Clause 2 dropped one rung to fourth place in its fourth week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $10.3 million (-32%) at 3,251 theaters (-95 theaters; $3,161 per theater). Its cume is approximately $95.0 million, heading for $110 million.

Directed by Michael Lembeck, it stars Tim Allen.

Universal and Imagine Entertainment's R rated drama 8 Mile fell three pegs to fifth place in its third week with an unexciting ESTIMATED $8.72 million (-55%) at 2,585 theaters (+89 theaters; $3,375 per theater). Its cume is approximately $97.7 million, heading for $125 million.

Directed by Curtis Hanson and produced by Brian Grazer, it stars Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer.

DreamWorks' PG-13 rated horror thriller The Ring slipped two rungs to sixth place in its sixth week, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $7.6 million (-29%) at 2,628 theaters (-254 theaters; $2,883 per theater). Its cume is approximately $110.9 million, heading for $125 million.

Directed by Gore Verbinski, it stars Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson and Brian Cox.

Universal and Beacon Pictures PG-13 rated drama The Emperor's Club opened in seventh place to a hopeful ESTIMATED $4.07 million at 809 theaters ($5,025 per theater).

Directed by Michael Hoffman, it stars Kevin Kline.

"It's working exactly as we had planned," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "We always wanted to deal with this film on a slower basis. We chose this weekend because we believed it would act as a 'sneak weekend.' Instead of having national sneaks, we felt we would open it and let it work as a sneak weekend would so we would be in a position to get the word of mouth out for this incredible film.

"By the way, the CinemaScores and exit polls are really terrific. Everything seems to be going according to plan. We're very pleased with the results. We know that you really can't make an evaluation until after the following 10 days because the next 10 days are crucial days for a movie like this where adults will be able to choose to go to the movies. This is a picture that certainly will appeal to the over-30 crowd and I think the word of mouth is going to support what everybody has been telling us as we've gone along with this incredible grass roots campaign."

Asked about the studio's exit poll results, Rocco replied, "The exit polls were 90 percent in the Top Two Boxes (excellent and very good) across the board. And that's pretty good considering this movie really appeals to the over-30 crowd. The overall ratings were above average, specifically the excellent and very good scores were solidly above the norm. And the Definite Recommend scores were also very, very strong. 81 percent of the audience was 30 years and older. It was slightly skewed female -- 62 percent female versus 38 percent male."

IFC Films' release of Gold Circle Films and HBO's PG rated romantic comedy blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding dropped two slots to eighth place in its 32nd week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $3.81 million (-19%) at 1,585 theaters (-227 theaters; $2,402 per theater). Its cume is approximately $204.7 million, heading for $215 million in domestic theaters.

Directed by Joel Zwick, it stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett.

Sony's Screen Gems label's PG-13 thriller Half Past Dead fell four notches to ninth place in its second week with a dull ESTIMATED $3.3 million (-58%) at 2,113 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,562 per theater). Its cume is approximately $12.7 million.

Written and directed by Don Michael Paul, it stars Steven Seagal and Morris Chestnut.

Rounding out the Top Ten was Miramax's R rated drama Frida, which continued to expand in its fifth week with a quiet ESTIMATED $2.4 million (-19%) at 794 theaters (+275 theaters; $3,023 per theater). Its cume is approximately $12.1 million.

Directed by Julie Taymor, it stars Salma Hayek.