There’s nothing like a good snub to restore your faith in moviegoers. 

Although Awake was the only new wide release this past weekend, discerning audiences kept it from succeeding by default.  (NOTE: Cute squirrels will always trump Jessica Alba.)  The movie, also co-starring Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen, opened with a dismal $6 million - less than half of what Alba’s last stellar film, Good Luck Chuck, did.  (The latter opened at $13.7 million.) I wonder if this currently makes Jessica Biel the most successful Jessica out there.

Aside from Awake’s entry, the rest of the Top Ten changed very little from last week.  Enchanted refused to budge from its perch and earned another $16 million over the past three days.  Meanwhile, Beowulf surged back up a notch, trading spots with holiday flick, This Christmas.

Although the box office numbers were unspectacular overall, we can expect big changes in just a few days; that’s when New Line’s The Golden Compass makes its debut.

1. Enchanted, Disney, $16,403,316
2. Beowulf, Paramount, $8,208,565
3. This Christmas, Sony Screen Gems, $7,941,068
4. Hitman, 20th Century Fox, $6,021,927
5. Awake, Weinstein Co., $5,856,872
6. Fred Claus, Warner Bros.,  $5,501,437
7. August Rush,  Warner Bros., $5,021,435
8. Stephen King’s The Mist, MGM, $4,553,008
9. Bee Movie, Paramount, $4,444,798
10. No Country for Old Men, Paramount Vantage, $4,385,290

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)