All last week, the jokes were flying endlessly about the title of Paramount Pictures’ new romantic comedy Failure to Launch, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Many critics and analysts claimed that the title may as well be a self-fulfilling prophecy for the film’s success. Whomever came up with that title is indeed getting the last laugh today, as the movie took an easy victory at the box office, claiming the #1 spot from Madea’s Family Reunion with an estimated opening gross of $24.6 million, an impressive per-theatre average of over $8 thousand in upwards of 3,000 theatres.

Proving that there was an audience eagerly awaiting a strong romantic comedy, the movie make almost a million more its opening weekend than McConaughey’s previous rom-com hit How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days made three years ago. That movie went onto make over $100 million.

The original comedy was joined this weekend by two very different remakes fighting it out for second place. According to estimates, Disney’s The Shaggy Dog, starring Tim Allen as a man who changes into a dog, eeked out the victory with an opening weekend take of roughly $16 million in over 3,500 theatres.

The Wes Craven produced remake of his own 1977 horror film, The Hills Have Eyes, this time directed by Alexandre Aja, was off to a good start on Friday, but dropped back over the weekend to a respectable opening of $15.5 million in 900 fewer theatres than The Shaggy Dog.

Dropping down to fourth place, the Warner Bros. thriller 16 Blocks, starring Bruce Willis and Mos Def, had the smallest second weekend decline of the movies opening last week, and it stayed perched above the other returning movies with $7.3 million, bringing its gross to $22.7 million.

Having passed the total gross of Tyler Perry’s previous film over the weekend, Madea’s Family Reunion took another 54% drop and ended up at #5 with $5.8 million and a cumulative gross of $55.7 million.

Disney’s other dog movie, Eight Below, lost some of its family business to The Shaggy Dog, but still earned another $5.4 million over the weekend. So far, it has grossed $66.4 million in four weeks, and is currently the third highest grossing film to open in 2006.

Last week’s other new films took sharp drops with 20th Century Fox’s teen comedy Aquamarine pulling slightly ahead of Kurt Wimmer sci-fi-action film Ultraviolet, starring Milla Jovovich, in their second weeks. The former made $3.65 million in its second weekend, while the latter took in $3.6 million, putting it neck and neck with Sony’s hit comedy remake The Pink Panther for eighth place. Starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau, the latter has grossed more money than any other movie opening in 2006 after just five weeks.

20th Century Fox’s romantic comedy spoof Date Movie held onto the Top 10 with $2.5 million, bringing its box office gross to $44.2 million. Having doubled its production budget, one can probably expect the inevitable Date Movie 2 to spoof Failure to Launch.

After a brief Oscar run in 2005, the long delayed period drama The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp, finally received a national roll-out into just 815 theatres where it made an unimpressive $2.2 million.

Surprisingly, the sharpest decline from last weekend was suffered by the concert film, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, which took a 68% drop in its second weekend, despite strong reviews before opening. Apparently, Chappelle’s many fans were expecting something different from his comeback. It made less than $2 million this weekend, to bring its total to $9.6 million, but it dropped down to the bottom of the Top 12.

After losing the Best Picture Oscar to Crash last Sunday, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain took a 49% tumble after losing 395 theatres. Still, it has grossed over $81 million, significantly more than the controversial Oscar victor.

Opening in limited release, the erotic drama Ask the Dust, starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek, made roughly $72 thousand in 7 theatres, while the Alfonso Cuaron sheperded Mexican comedy Duck Season made roughly a third that amount in 6 theatres.

Playwright Tyler Perry, who turned his crazy-granny “Madea” character into a lucrative cottage industry, returned to the top of the box office on Sunday, exactly one year after stunning the industry with a No. 1 bow for his first film.

“Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,” which Perry wrote, directed and starred in, sold an estimated $30.3 million worth of tickets in its first three days since opening on Friday, distributor Lionsgate said.

The comedy-drama revolves around a pistol-toting matriarch, played by Perry, who beats and lectures her chaotic clan into submission. It was not screened in advance for critics, a tactic usually employed when a studio knows a movie will get harsh reviews but fans will turn out anyway.

While Perry, 35, is one of the best-known black playwrights in the United States, with sold-out shows in virtually every city for his “Madea” plays, he was barely a blip on the radar of mainstream movie audiences until last February when “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” opened at No. 1. The revenge comedy, budgeted at $5.5 million, ended its theatrical run with $50 million and was huge seller on home video. It was also released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Last week’s champion, Walt Disney Co.’s fact-based survival saga “Eight Below,” slipped to No. 2 with $15.7 million, taking its 10-day total to $45.1 million.

NEW DUDS

Two other films opened in theaters, not that many people noticed. The canine cartoon “Doogal” played dead at No. 8 with $3.6 million, while the mob drama “Running Scared” was whacked at No. 9 with $3.1 million.

“Doogal” was released by the Weinstein Co., the privately held firm established by former Miramax Films co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein. “Running Scared” was released by New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Rounding out the top-five, Steve Martin’s comedy remake “The Pink Panther,” another former champ, was steady at No. 3 with $11.3 million in its third weekend. The film has earned $61 million to date.

The teen comedy “Date Movie” fell two places to No. 4 with $9.2 million, for a 10-day haul of $33.9 million. The computer-animated children’s book adaptation “Curious George” dipped one spot to No. 5 with $7 million and a three-week tally of $43.1 million.

“The Pink Panther” was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. while “Date Movie” was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. “Curious George” was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric Co.

In a sign that Oscar buzz has largely been a bust for movie theater owners, three of the five best picture nominees earned a combined $3.4 million during the weekend, with leading contender “Brokeback Mountain” accounting for $2.3 million of that. To date, the gay-cowboy film has earned $75.4 million.

George Clooney’s newsroom drama “Good Night, and Good Luck” earned $600,000, while Steven Spielberg’s revenge thriller “Munich” pulled in $488,000. Their respective totals stand at $30.3 million and $46.1 million.

Of the two other nominees, the ensemble drama “Crash” is already out on home video, while official estimates for the Truman Capote saga “Capote” were not available. However, a rival studio estimated it made about $1 million, taking its total to about $23 million.

The Academy Awards will be handed out in Hollywood next Sunday.

In its debut week, ‘Eight Below’ grossed an estimated $20 million and topped the U.S. box office, said boxofficemojo.com, Sunday.

‘Date Movie’ grossed $19 million its premier week.

‘The Pink Panther’ made $16.5 million last week for a total box office of $42 million, while ‘Curious George’ made $11.3 million for a total box office of $29 million, ‘Final Destination’ made $10 million for a total box of $36 million and ‘Firewall’ made $9 million for a total box office of $27 million.

‘Freedomland’ grossed $6 million its debut week.

‘When a Stranger Calls’ made $5 million for a total box office of $41 million, ‘Big Momma`s House 2′ made $4.4 million for a total box office of $61 million and ‘Nanny McPhee’ made $3.7 million for a total box office of $38 million.