Arenas Entertainment and Universal's R rated urban action film Empire arrived in fourth place to a solid ESTIMATED $6.27 million at 867 theaters ($7,235 per theater).

Written and directed by Franc Reyes, it stars John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard and Denise Richards.

"We're very excited because this is a film that we acquired for around $650,000," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "It's the first venture with our partners the Arenas Group. We acquired the film for them. This fantastic opening is indicative of how we targeted the release date without attempting to compete with the high profile films (in the marketplace).

"867 playdates is not the norm for an urban action film, but we were very selective in how we distributed the film. We didn't attempt to compete with the more mainstream fare this weekend and that's evidenced by the choice of the (release) date and the marketing campaign."

Arenas, Rocco explained, "chose Empire as its first release because it's a commercial genre film. They deserve the credit for recognizing the talent of Franc Reyes, who directed and wrote Empire. The Arenas partnership is one that we plan to cultivate for a long time to come. There are plans to release all different kinds of films, which we're very excited about, particularly because they're going to showcase Latino talent for a Latino audience. They've assisted us in marketing this film because they're experts in marketing to the Latino audience. This is a hugely successful launch and I think strategically the results are exceptional."

Rocco also applauded Leguizamo's efforts to promote Empire, noting that he "worked very hard on the film and supported the film tremendously. He literally did interviews (with) every radio, TV and print outlet in every major Hispanic market. I think the results speak for themselves."

Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated animated sci-fi adventure Treasure Planet dropped one orbit to fifth place in its second week with a slow ESTIMATED $5.7 million (-53%) at 3,227 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,754 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.8 million.

Directed by John Musker & Ron Clements, its screenplay is by Ron Clements & John Musker.

Buena Vista/Disney's G rated comedy sequel Santa Clause 2 fell three rungs to sixth place in its sixth week, with a still funny ESTIMATED $5.4 million (-55%) at 2,356 theaters (-170 theaters; $2,296 per theater). Its cume is approximately $120.2 million, heading for $140 million in domestic theaters.

Directed by Michael Lembeck, it stars Tim Allen.

Columbia's PG-13 rated animated musical Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights dropped two slots to seventh place in its second week with a less funny ESTIMATED $5.2 million (-45%) at 2,503 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,078 per theater). Its cume is approximately $20.4 million.

Directed by Seth Kearsley, it was produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo and Allen Covert.

New Line Cinema's R rated comedy sequel Friday After Next slid two slots to eighth place in its third week with a slow ESTIMATED $2.8 million (-62%) at 1,450 theaters (-171 theaters; $1,931 per theater). Its cume is approximately $29.1 million.

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

Universal and Imagine Entertainment's R rated drama 8 Mile fell one peg to ninth place in its fifth week with an okay ESTIMATED $2.61 million (-55%) at 2,015 theaters (-483 theaters; $1,295 per theater). Its cume is approximately $111.2 million, heading for $125 million.

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

Rounding out the Top Ten was DreamWorks' PG-13 rated horror thriller The Ring, down one rung in its eighth week with an uneventful ESTIMATED $2.5 million (-52%) at 1,642 theaters (-270 theaters; $1,537 per theater). Its cume is approximately $123.3 million, heading for $130 million.

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