"The King of New York" was no match for "The King of Queens" this weekend -- at least at the box office.
Former sitcom star Kevin James' "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" was the No. 1 movie, pulling in nearly $34 million. The biographical film about the life and death of Notorious B.I.G. made $21.5 million to finish in fourth place.
However, "Notorious" was No. 1 is a different category -- per screen average. The film pulled in an average of $13,126 in 1,638 theaters. By comparison, "Paul Blart" opened on 3,144 screens. It also was the biggest opening of all-time for Fox Searchlight, known for smaller critical successes like "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine."
"It's a very high quality film, and it's a compelling look at a compelling cultural icon who, like many cultural icons, left way too early but left an indelible mark on society," Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox told the Associated Press.
It was a good weekend for the film industry, as most of the week's new movies outperformed expectations. Experts said "Notorious" was able to cross over to fans outside of Biggie's fanbase and early estimates indicated that 40 percent of the audience was under 25.
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