Delivering an unexpected spark to a lethargic box office, Charlie's Angels took in a record $40.5 million over the weekend, the most ever earned on a non-summer, non-holiday weekend.

The film's performance immediately set in motion plans for an Angels franchise. "It's one of those rare openings where you've got to at least think about a sequel. It's a crowd-pleasing film, and I think there's an appetite for it," Sony marketing and distribution chief Jeff Blake told the Associated Press.

In a separate interview with the New York Times, Blake added, "It played really well across the board. ... That was the key. It played well in upscale locations and it did just as well in the suburban malls. The kids bought it and the adults bought it, too."

Reporting on the outcome, Daily Variety box office analyst Dade Hayes commented that the result represented "sweet vindication for Sony. The struggling studio, which entered the weekend No. 7 in domestic market share, had been pilloried for months over the picture's lofty budget reportedly $100 million, on-set squabbles and cavalcade of writers."

Source: Studio Briefing