Buena Vista/Touchstone Pictures' PG-13 rated comedy The Hot Chick opened with less heat than hoped for in a fourth place tie with an ESTIMATED $7.5 million at 2,217 theaters ($3,370 per theater).

Directed by Tom Brady, it stars Rob Schneider.

"When I looked at the CinemaScores for all four pictures (that opened) this weekend, they all really scored well," BV distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "I think what's happened is, you have four choices on a weekend and you can only be first choice for so many people. I think with these scores and the very good news with us going up 17 percent last night (Saturday versus Friday) and some of the movies not going forward, it bodes well among our audience that we've got the whole holiday ahead of us."

Looking at the CinemaScores, Viane observed, "Hot Chick has two A's and four B-pluses. Maid in Manhattan has two A's and four B-pluses. And Star Trek has four A's and two B-pluses. Drumline has six A-pluses. It's impressive) when you think all of these movies scored that well. It's tough. There's no question. Every Friday when you're opening up against three or four pictures -- in the old days, it was you and one other (film) all the time, today you go up against three or four -- you really have to place your films well so that you can get to your intended audience during a period of time.

"Thankfully, today is Dec. 15 and we have about two and a half consecutive weeks of really strong play time ahead of us. All the way through Jan. 3 everything is very positive for everybody in the marketplace. If the audiences like it as much as this, then you definitely have your future ahead of you."

MGM and United Artists' PG-13 rated James Bond thriller Die Another Day slid three slots to tie for fourth place in its fourth week with a solid ESTIMATED $7.5 million (-42%) at 3,377 theaters (+30 theaters; $2,221 per theater). Its cume is approximately $131.6 million, heading for $165-175 million in domestic theaters.

Directed by Lee Tamahori and produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, it stars Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.

The last Bond film, 1999's The World Is Not Enough, grossed $126.9 million in domestic theaters and $225.1 million in international theaters for a worldwide total of $352 million.

"It's now the biggest domestic grossing Bond ever," MGM senior vice president, publicity Eric Kops said Sunday morning.

Warner Bros.' PG rated sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fell three pegs to sixth place in its fifth week, holding nicely with an ESTIMATED $6.15 million (-39%) at 3,025 theaters (-362 theaters; $2,033 per theater). Its cume is approximately $222.4 million, heading for $275 million in domestic theaters.

Directed by Chris Columbus, it stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment's R rated comedy sequel Analyze That plunged five notches to seventh place in its second week with a weak ESTIMATED $5.32 million (-52%) at 2,635 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,017 per theater). Its cume is approximately $19.6 million.

Directed by Harold Ramis, it stars Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow.

The 1999 original film in the series, Analyze This, grossed $106.7 million in domestic theaters.

Buena Vista/Disney's G rated comedy sequel Santa Clause 2 fell three two rungs to eighth place in its seventh week, still holding decently with an ESTIMATED $4.0 million (-25%) at 2,207 theaters (-149 theaters; $1,814 per theater). Its cume is approximately $125.4 million, heading for $140 million in domestic theaters.

Directed by Michael Lembeck, it stars Tim Allen.