In its first weekend, Dolphin Tale came in behind both Moneyball and The Lion King 3D, which managed to hold the number one spot for two consecutive weeks.  For its second weekend in theaters, though, Dolphin Tale retained all but 25% of its audience, bringing in an estimated $14.2 million for a ten-day total of $37.5 million.  This counts as a surprise, given the pedigree of the competition as well as the addition of no less than four new releases.  But we'll get back to those shortly.

With some of the best reviews so far this year, Moneyball should enjoy a pretty lengthy run, and it spent this weekend once again occupying the number two spot.  The Brad Pitt-starring baseball drama co-written by Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian has actually outperformed every on film on the last two Fridays, but on Saturday when families hit the multiplexes from sea to shining sea, it fares less well.  This weekend, its estimate pegs Moneyball as having added $12.5 million, down about 35% from its opening weekend.

Then there's The Lion King, which Disney initially touted as a two week only theatrical 3D run leading up to the movie's Blu-ray debut this Tuesday.  After throwing down unexpectedly robust weekends, though, Disney opted to keep the seventeen year old animated classic on 3D screens, and in doing so added $11.0 million in estimated earnings for a re-release total of $79.6 million.  This weekend it dropped almost 50% from last, but I don't anybody at Disney is too disappointed, as the film's cumulative total through its initial release, a 2002 IMAX run and this ongoing 3D re-re-release, is now $408.2 million.  That total puts The Lion King at number ten on the all-time domestic gross list, usurping Spider-Man for the spot.

As for the new releases, 50/50 fared best, debuting at number four with an estimated take of $8.85 million.  The dramedy boasts an impressive, appealing cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, and Bryce Dallas Howard, but Summit Entertainment's marketing seemed hobbled by an expectation that the cancer storyline would scare audiences away.  Still, 50/50 is really well-reviewed, and those folks that have seen it almost unanimously love it, so it should hold well.

Nipping right at that film's heels this weekend, though, is the independently produced, Christian-themed drama Courageous, which posted an estimated $8.8 million, despite playing in far fewer locations than any other film in the top ten.  The movie is the sophomore effort from Sherwood Pictures, familiar as the company behind Fireproof, a surprise little hit back in 2008.  While that film centered on a firefighter and issues of faith, this one chronicles several police officers. 

Despite the presence of Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts, the thriller Dream House opened in sixth place with an estimate of $8.2 million.  While the thriller is well outside the wheelhouse of director Jim Sheridan, it appeared to be a pretty standard scary movie, combining haunted house tropes with psychological twistiness.

In 2008, Anna Faris showed she could capably lead a comedy with The House Bunny.  Since this weekend's new release What's Your Number? paired her with Chris Evans and a whole mess of funny dudes playing her ex-boyfriends, one would reasonably have expected it to fare pretty well.  Fare pretty well it did not, however, as its $5.6 estimate puts it in eighth place for the weekend.  That's significantly lower than pretty much every pre-Friday projection.  Apparently, the audience was 63% female and 63% over the age of 25.  That latter stat is indicative of something having gone rather wrong, as the cast, tone, and content definitely gave the impression that a younger crowd was the target audience.  Not too young, though, as it is rated R.

Here are the estimates for the top ten movies over the weekend:

1. Dolphin Tale                                              $14.2 million         $37.5 million

2. Moneyball                                                  $12.5 million         $38.4 million

3. The Lion King 3D                                       $11.0 million         $79.6 million

4. 50/50                                                        $8.85 million         New Release

5. Courageous                                               $8.8 million          New Release

6. Dream House                                             $8.2 million          New Release

7. Abduction                                                  $5.65 million         $19.1 million

8. What's Your Number?                               $5.6 million          New Release

9. Contagion                                                 $5.0 million          $64.7 million

10. Killer Elite                                               $4.8 million          $17.4 million

Coming up on Friday, robot-boxing movie Real Steel and political drama The Ides of March both arrive in theaters.