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The teen comedy from Sony, the misadventures of two high school buddies trying to score booze, took in $31.2 million to debut as the weekend’s No. 1 movie, according to studio estimates Sunday.

« Superbad » knocked off the previous weekend’s top flick, New Line’s « Rush Hour 3, » which slipped to second place with $21.8 million, raising its total to $88.2 million.

The Warner Bros. sci-fi tale « The Invasion, » starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig in an update of « Invasion of the Body Snatchers, » opened a weak No. 5 with $6 million.

« Superbad » maintains the pattern of producer Judd Apatow’s earlier hits, « Knocked Up » and « The 40-Year-Old Virgin, » which he directed. Apatow and his collaborators, including « Knocked Up » star and « Superbad » co-writer and co-star Seth Rogen, have a knack for packaging crude, R-rated humor with clever, authentic dialogue far smarter than what’s normally seen in summer comedies.

Shot on a modest $20 million budget, « Superbad » had a slightly better debut than « Knocked Up, » which opened in June with $30.7 million and went on become a $100 million hit.

« I think a genuinely funny movie always has a shot at doing well, because so few movies are really funny, » Apatow told The Associated Press as he headed to the « Knocked Up » premiere Sunday at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in Scotland.

« Superbad, » co-written by Rogen and his high school best friend Evan Goldberg, stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as pals on a quest for alcohol to impress the foxy host of a party. Rogen co-stars as an inept cop who ends up carousing with the teens, while Christopher Mintz-Plasse proves a scene-stealer as Hill and Cera’s super-geeky friend.

Though centering on high schoolers, « Superbad » drew in older crowds, with 40 percent of the audience over 30, said Rory Bruer, 경기도출장샵 head of distribution for Sony.

« The Apatow comedy machine itself is a brand now, and it’s a brand that has created movies that appeal to older audiences who now follow whatever he does, even in the teen genre, which is very unusual, » said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Overall Hollywood revenues rose with the top 12 movies taking in $110.5 million, up 21 percent from the same weekend last year, when « Snakes on a Plane » opened at No. 1 with $15.2 million. Movie attendance is running 5 percent ahead of last summer’s, according to Media By Numbers.

The Weinstein Co. release « The Last Legion, » featuring Ben Kingsley in an action tale set in ancient Rome, tanked with just $2.6 million, finishing at No. 12.

In narrower release, MGM’s comedy « Death at a Funeral, » a tale of outrageous goings-on at a British patriarch’s farewell, opened solidly with $1.3 million.

Warner Independent’s « The 11th Hour, » a global-crisis documentary on ecological issues co-written, co-produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, debuted well in four theaters with $56,000.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. « Superbad, » $31.2 million.

2. « Rush Hour 3, » $21.8 million.

3. « The Bourne Ultimatum, » $19 million.

4. « The Simpsons Movie, » $6.7 million.

5. « The Invasion, » $6 million.

6. « Stardust, » $5.2 million.

7. « Hairspray, » $4.3 million.

8. « Underdog, » $3.6 million.

9. « Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, » $3.54 million.

10. « I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, » $3.5 million.By DAVID GERMAIN