Scooby-Doo, where are you? Well on top of the weekend box office.

        The big-screen update of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, starring Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini and a computer-animated Great Dane, took in $56.4 million to debut as the No. 1 film, according to industry estimates Sunday.

        “The weekend really went to the dogs,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. “In these trying times, what could be more escapist than Scooby-Doo, which is so fun and lighthearted?”

TOP TEN

1. “Scooby-Doo,” $56.4 million.    2. “The Bourne Identity,” $27.5 million.    3. “Windtalkers,” $14.5 million.    4. “The Sum of All Fears,” $13.5 million.    5. “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” $9.8 million.    6. “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” $9.2 million.    7. “Spider-Man,” $7.4 million.    8. “Bad Company,” $6.1 million.    9. “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” $5.5 million.    10. “Undercover Brother,” $4.6 million.

        Matt Damon's The Bourne Identity, a spy thriller about a deadly amnesiac agent, opened in second place with $27.5 million.

        Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach in a drama about Navajo Indian codetalkers in World War II, premiered a weak third with $14.5 million.

        The espionage tale of Mr. Damon's buddy Ben Affleck, The Sum of All Fears, slipped to fourth place after two weekends as the top film, taking in $13.5 million and pushing its 17-day total to $84.5 million.

        The industry continued its upward trend, with the top 12 movies grossing $160 million, nearly 25 percent higher than the same weekend a year ago. Revenues for 2002 are running about 22 percent ahead of the record $8.4 billion last year.

        Scooby-Doo was one of Hollywood's few successes in adapting a TV cartoon to the big screen. The Flintstones did well, but the prequel “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas” was a commercial dud.

        Other recent cartoon adaptations flopped, including “Josie and the Pussycats” and “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.”

        “Scooby-Doo is a character that obviously reaches a much wider audience than most cartoons,” said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released “Scooby-Doo.” “The audience was Scooby fans from 8 to 80. We had kids, we had adults. We had everybody.”

        Playing in 3,447 theaters, “Scooby-Doo” averaged an impressive $16,368 a cinema. “The Bourne Identity” averaged a healthy $10,425 in 2,638 theaters, and “Windtalkers” did a so-so $5,003 in 2,898 locations.

        Adapted from Robert Ludlum's best seller, “The Bourne Identity” established Damon as a legitimate action leading man. The actor has tended toward straight drama or ensemble films.

        Action films usually have stronger male appeal, but distributor Universal said the audience for “Bourne Identity” was evenly split between men and women.

        Many were drawn to the film “because of the story. It's a well-read book,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. Rocco said the appeal for women was more straightforward: “I think it's Matt Damon.”

        “Windtalkers” was the latest commercial misfire for MGM, whose recent flops include “Hart's War” and “Rollerball.”

        “Did they choose to take their kids to "Scooby-Doo' and will get to "Windtalkers' later? From the people who did come to "Windtalkers,' we got good word of mouth, so that's our hope,” said MGM head of distribution Robert Levin.

        In limited release, a new three-hour cut of the Italian favorite “Cinema Paradiso” took in $27,000 at three theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. The longer cut expands to more cities over the next two weekends.

        Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

Heart Transplant: She aced it
Turn light bulb off to save; however . . .
'Copenhagen' will play at Ensemble
KIESEWETTER: King back on air after cancer
Smither, Case paint Southgate blue
Zoinks! 'Scooby-Doo' scares up monster debut
A safe climb
Beware creatine's potential dangers
Fit Bits
Heart rate monitors take guesswork out of exercises
Get To It