In a fierce head-to-head battle, The Rock's family comedy The Game Plan upset Jamie Foxx's action thriller The Kingdom this weekend and became the first PG-rated film since June to open at number one. The wrestler-turned-actor collected an estimated $22.7M in ticket sales for his first kidpic and exceeded industry expectations going into the weekend. Disney's latest hit comedy averaged a solid $7,307 from 3,103 theaters. Game marked The Rock's second biggest opening ever in a lead role after 2002's The Scorpion King which bowed to $36.1M.

The film is the latest to take a macho action star and put him in a family-friendly situation involving kids. In The Game Plan, The Rock plays a superstar quarterback and stylish bachelor who finds out he has a daughter. The studio found success with the same formula two years ago with Vin Diesel's The Pacifier which debuted much better than expected with $30.6M on its way to an amazing $113.1M. Game Plan also tapped into a family audience starving for entertainment as the past several weeks have been dominated by adult fare and R-rated movies for older teens. Studio research showed that 52% of the audience was female, 53% was under 25, and two-thirds of the crowd consisted of families. With a CinemaScore grade of A, and most October releases offering nothing exciting for kids, Disney should expect playability for many weeks to come.

Settling for the runnerup spot but still generating solid results was The Kingdom which premiered to an estimated $17.7M. The Universal release averaged an impressive $6,335 from 2,793 locations. Carrying the R rating, the Peter Berg-directed film finds Jamie Foxx leading a team of FBI agents into Saudi Arabia to investigate an attack on Americans living there. Critics were mixed in their reviews. Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, and Jeremy Piven co-star. Unlike Game Plan, Kingdom faced plenty of competition given that the marketplace offered several other serious films aimed at adult audiences.

Last weekend's top film Resident Evil: Extinction collapsed in its second frame tumbling 66% to an estimated $8M for a ten-day tally of $36.8M. The Sony threequel should finish up in the same neighborhood as its predecessor Resident Evil: Apocalypse which grossed $50.7M three years ago at the same time of year.

Lionsgate followed with a pair of pics. The romantic comedy Good Luck Chuck fell 54% to an estimated $6.3M for a cume of $23.6M in ten days. A $35M final seems likely. The Western 3:10 to Yuma grossed an estimated $4.2M, off only 32%, for a $43.9M total.

Jodie Foster's crime thriller The Brave One dropped 49% to an estimated $3.7M and raised its sum to $30.8M for Warner Bros. New Line's Billy Bob Thornton comedy Mr. Woodcock followed in seventh place with an estimated $3M, down 39%, giving the pic $19.6M to date.