On Saturday morning, it looked like Megamind was going head to head with Due Date.  Both films made around $12M on Friday evening, but Megamind built on its momentum and added another $20 M to its total on Saturday, bringing its full weekend total to $47.7M.  This came from a mixture of 2D and 3D venues.

That is still a bit lower than Despicable Me ($56.4M)  made on its opening weekend, though. Incidentally, Paramount has had a number one movie three of the last  four weekends (Paranormal Activity 2, Jackass 3D and now Megamind.)

That is  not to say that Due Date didn’t have a great weekend.  It’s total of $33.5 M was good enough to break the November record for best opening for an R-rated comedy. The Robert Downey Jr./Zach Galifianakis comedy didn’t so fare so well when it came to critics, but audiences seemed to enjoy the movie.

Tyler Perry continues to be box office gold for Lionsgate.  His latest movie For Colored Girls was not widely screened for critics, but it managed an impressive $20.1 M anyway.  This is the first time Perry has released a R-rated film.  The weekend total is a bit lower than what his films typically earn, but it is a good, solid number.

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Well, the Jackass gang was at it again, this time offering their usual gags, gross-outs and stunts in 3D.  The 3D format payed off as Jackass 3D broke the opening weekend record for Fall (considered the months of September and October) that was previously held by Scary Movie 3.

Jackass 3D managed to make a very impressive $50 M over the weekend.  It is estimated that 90 percent of its business were on 3D screens, so in this case, the 3D surcharge definitely helped pad the total for the movie.  Friday’s total of $21 M may be an opening day record as well, if the totals hold true.

The talented ensemble cast of Red helped propel the movie to second place over the weekend, earning a respectable $22.5 M over the weekend.  It also received a coveted A+ score from audiences, according to pollster cinemascore. Those don’t come along very often, and they often indicate that the film will benefit from good word of mouth.

David Fincher’s The Social Network continues to perform strongly.  It only dropped 28% from last week’s totals, and placed a strong third at the box office with $11 M. After three weeks, the movie has made $63 M, besting its budget of $50 M.

Secretariat appears to be running a slow and steady box office race. The film only dropped off 25% from last weekend for third place, making another $9.5 M.  It is very rare for a film to drop less than 30% after opening weekend, so Secretariat may surprise us by making its money over time, not just the opening weekend.  After two weekends, the film has made around $27 M, but its budget was only $35 M, so it looks like it will be in good shape financially.

Holdover Life As We Know It was able to retain much of its momentum as well, earning an additional $9M for fifth place. Outside of the top ten, upcoming documentary Inside Job boasted a high $9,000/per screen, playing on just 1o screens.  The documentary about the Wall Street collapse is garnering some serious buzz.

Also enjoying great per/screen averages was Hilary Swank’s inspiring legal drama, Conviction.  Though it only played on 11 screens, it had a $10,000 per/screen average.

A lot of people thought that Secretariat would be a shoo-in for first place this week. There has been Oscar talk for Diane Lane, and Disney was pinning its hopes on having a “Blind Side” type four-quadrant hit film on its hands. Alas, at the end of the day, Secretariat stumbled across the finish line in third place with $12.6M  for the weekend, dashing the dreams of studio executives hoping for a huge hit.

The Social Network came in at the top spot, with $15M.  It dropped about 30% from its opening weekend, and has made $46M to date. Katherine Heigl’s latest rom-com Life As We Know It came in at a respectable $14.6M, good enough for second place this weekend, though it came in on the lower end of expectations.

Holdover Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole won the number four spot. Wes Craven’s latest offering, My Soul To Take, was a disappointment with $6.9M, despite having 3D up charges.  It goes to show that 3D does not ensure big numbers at the box office.

You still have to have a quality product.  The movie wasn’t screened for critics, and feedback from audience members has been dismal.  Cinemascore reports a horrible “D” grade.

Newcomers Buried and It’s Kind of a Funny Story were on limited screens, but their per/screen averages were pretty bleak.  Each only garnered about $2,000 per showing, and neither placed in the top ten. I Spit on Your Grave only made $33,000 over the weekend, a truly frightening total.

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Seabiscuit just got some steeper competition. ‘Secretariat,’ currently in pre-production for a 2010 release from Walt Disney Pictures, has added three more actors to a cast that already boasts Diane Lane (Nights In Rodanthe). The Hollywood Reporter states that Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck), John Malkovich (Burn After Reading) and Scott Glenn (W.) have signed on to the film centering on the owner of the famous thoroughbred racehorse that captured the United States Triple Crown in 1973.

Malkovich will play the horse’s trainer Lucien Laurin. Glenn plays Ogden Phipps, the thoroughbred owner/breeder who famously lost the hall of fame racehorse in a coin toss while Walsh plays husband to Lane’s Penny Tweedy – also known as “the first lady of racing” – Secretariat’s owner.

While selling a film about horse racing might seem like a stretch, the aforementioned Seabiscuit managed to earn $120 million plus at the box office. By throwing in a more recognizable subject and a few of Hollywood’s more notable actors, this project should undoubtedly find its legs, thoroughbred-like or not. Still no word on who will play the title character, though.