Never have I been as happy to see a half-hearted attempt at a video game cinematic adaptation debut as I was when I saw that Max Payne had knocked Beverly Hills Chihuahua off the top spot.

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Max Payne opened this weekend in the U.S. at number 1 with a respectable — given the time of year it is — $18 million. Based on the video game of the same name, the movie took a different, more ethereal approach to a game that was, for all intents and purposes, a fantastic shoot-em-up.

Sadly, Beverly Hills Chihuahua took second spot, showing once again that no matter how bad a movie is there will still be people who want to see it. Over and over and over and… It managed to pull in $11.2 million this weekend, only just ahead of The Secret Life of Bees, which took third spot and $11 million. I’m not sure what it’s about, but it has Dakota Fanning in it, along with Queen Latifah and Paul Bettany, so I might go see it anyway.

Possibly the most anticipated movie of the weekend, and thus the most disappointing with a fourth spot finish and only $10.5 million, was W, Oliver Stone‘s apparently very respectful and sympathetic movie on the life of President George W. Bush. Starring Josh Brolin as the man himself, along with James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, and Elizabeth Banks, we may be seeing more of this when award season comes around again.

The only other newbie worth mentioning was Sex Drive, which scored a disappointing ninth place with $3.5 million. Starring Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew, James Marsden , and Seth Green, the Road Trip -style comedy probably deserved ninth given that those out to see a crap movie had Beverly Hil… ok, I’ll stop!

As always, thanks to Box Office Mojo for their stats.