The movie business is off to a tremendous start this year. Another unexpectedly big box office take is sure to bring smiles to Hollywood executives’ faces on the last weekend before we see a new president step into office (I wanted to mention that somewhere on cvt, so we’re starting here). On top of the pile was Sony and Kevin James’ Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which took in $33.8 million. Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino is still running strong, dropping a mere 24.6% to take second place wih $22.2 million.

The weekend’s other three new wide releases (an uncharacteristically crowded slate for the MLK holiday) battled it out for the next three slots, with My Bloody Valentine 3-D’s $21.9 million sneaking over Notorious’s $21.5 million to secure third place, leaving the Notorious B.I.G. biopic in fourth (though Notorious was playing in about 900 fewer theaters). And in fifth place was Paramount’s family comedy Hotel for Dogs, which took in a respectable $17.7 million.

Other notable activity on the weekend chart included Bride Wars being pushed to sixth place with $11.75 million (a decent 44% slip), The Unborn settling for seventh with $9.85 million (a similarly acceptable 50% slip), Ed Zwick’s Defiance taking in $9.2 million after expanding to wide, and Slumdog Millionaire riding the Golden Globe buzz to increase its weekend earnings 56% over last week with $5.9 million. Overall, the weekend was up a whopping 31% over last year, and this isn’t even counting Monday’s MLK holiday yet. Expect final numbers for the long weekend to be out on Tuesday, or head on over to Box Office Mojo in the meantime to see the full chart.

Tags: Box Office, Bride Wars, Defiance, Gran Torino, Hotel For Dogs, My Bloody Valentine 3-D, Notorious, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Slumdog Millionaire, The Unborn