LOS ANGELES — Mr. Deeds went to town in a big way as the Adam Sandler comedy debuted as the No. 1 weekend film with $37.6 million.

        Last weekend's No. 1 film, Minority Report, slipped to third place with $21.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Lilo & Stitch, which opened just $400,000 behind Minority Report last weekend, remained the No. 2 movie with $22.2 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP 10

1. Mr. Deeds, $37.6 mil   2. Lilo & Stitch, $22.2 mil   3. Minority Report, $21.6 mil   4. Scooby-Doo, $12.2 mil   5. The Bourne Identity, $10.8 mil   6. Hey Arnold! The Movie, $6 mil   7. The Sum of All Fears, $4.8 mil   8. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, $4 mil   9. Windtalkers, $3.6 mil   10. Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, $3.56 mil

        The weekend's other new wide release, the animated TV adaptation Hey Arnold! The Movie, opened a distant sixth with a weak $6 million.

        With the strong premiere of Mr. Deeds and solid staying power for Lilo & Stitch, Minority Report and other holdover films, the industry scored another rising weekend. The top 12 films grossed $131.9 million, up 12 percent over the same weekend last year.

        Movie revenues are running more than 20 percent ahead of last year, when Hollywood took in a record $8.4 billion. The industry should get a fresh box-office jolt over the Fourth of July holiday, with likely blockbuster Men in Black II debuting and many Americans taking a five-day weekend.

        “This weekend was excellent, but I think next weekend with Men in Black, we could be looking at some record-breaking numbers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

        A remake of Frank Capra and Gary Cooper's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Sandler's film overcame generally bad reviews and played well among his core audience of young males, a group that pays little heed to critics.

        “With that audience, he's four stars,” said Jeff Blake, head of distribution and marketing for Sony, which released Mr. Deeds. “I think the audience went a little older than his usual given the romantic comedy subject matter, but it still played to his strength, the teens and young adults.”

        Mr. Sandler plays a goodhearted small-town guy who inherits $40 billion and winds up clashing with cynical city dwellers over his homespun values. Winona Ryder co-stars as Mr. Sandler's love interest.

        The debut of Mr. Deeds was on par with his two biggest hits, Big Daddy, which took in $41.5 million over opening weekend, and The Waterboy, which did $39.4 million. Both films went on to top $160 million.

        Since those movies, Sandler had bombed with the satanic comedy Little Nicky, whose total gross was just a couple of million dollars more than Mr. Deeds took in over opening weekend.

        “A lot of people were wondering after Little Nicky if Sandler still had the goods,” Mr. Dergarabedian said. “Obviously, he still does. The guy's sold a lot of tickets over the years, and he still has his core audience.”

        Spider-Man, the year's top-grossing film, fell out of the top 10 in its ninth weekend, taking in $3 million. Its total has climbed to $395.7 million and should pass $400 million by Fourth of July weekend.

        The year's No. 2 film, Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, came in at No. 10 with $3.56 million, lifting its total to $286.1 million.

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