This week's top 5: No. 1 Borat ($26.3 million) No. 2 The Santa Clause 3 ($20 million) No. 3 Flushed Away ($19.1 million) No. 4 Saw III ($15.5 million) No. 5 The Prestige ($8 million) Last week, more than 3,000 theaters declined in showing Borat saying the movie has no box-office appeal and a number of big-budgeted hollywood flicks are on the line-up. This week, Borat pulled a surprise! Debuting at no. 1 with only 837 theaters screening is astounding indeed. Borat is now a certified blockbuster and more theaters are now getting the Borat fever.

Borat, a film about the misadventures of a Kazakhstani reporter (Sacha Baron Cohen) journeying through the United States, is the big story at the box office right now and may stay that way through the end of the year. Opening in just 837 theaters (wide releases typically bow in more than 3,000), conventional wisdom had Borat perhaps vying for second place as it tried to gather strength on its way to a wider release. Instead, playing in just a quarter the number of screens as many of its competitors, Borat earned first-place honors.