Things don’t look so good for movies that depict political issues or at least the disarray and chaos in the Middle East, as “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” a film about a pampered princess-like pooch thrown in the dangers of the harsh street life, managed to take a couple of bites out of Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies.”

In the midst of a global economic crisis, moviegoers preferred to escape the mayhem by watching some cute dogs talk rather than follow CIA agents on an anti-terrorism mission. Although it benefits from an A-list cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, “Body of Lies” sold an unimpressive $13. 1 million in tickets at North American theaters, thus claiming only the third spot at the box office, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

Warner Brothers, the studio behind the espionage thriller whose production costs reached an estimated $70 million, had expected a No. 1 opening for “Body of Lies” and, evidently, a much bigger debut weekend gross.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” explained Dan Fellman, the studio’s domestic distribution president, as reported by Reuters. “It was too good for the gross it recorded.”

In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a CIA operative who is sent on a mission to hunt down a Middle Eastern terrorist with the help of Jordanian spies. Russell Crowe plays the field agent’s Washington-based boss, who supervises his subordinate’s every move via cell phone.

Nevertheless, audiences considered a talking dog movie more appealing and thus rushed in theaters to see “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” a spoiled up-to-the-minute dog whose fancy thoughts are voiced by Drew Barrymore. The Walt Disney Co. production lingered on the first spot at the box office for the second consecutive weekend, grossing $17.5 million and taking its 10-day revenue to $52.5 million.

“There’s an element in the film of these dogs and their owners being rich and spoiled. Audiences kind of enjoy watching their perceived nemesis being made fun of,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. “Especially when times are tough.”

On the track of the “Chihuahua” was “Quarantine,” a horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring Jennifer Carpenter. The movie sold approximately $14.2 million in tickets and opened at No. 2.

“Eagle Eye,” the cyber-terrorism story starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, earned around $11 million and settled at No. 4, while “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” continued to sing from No. 5, with $6.5 million.

Universal Pictures’ “The Express” was not able to make it to the top five, as the anemic $4.7 million it grossed equaled only a No. 6 debut, but this was far from being the sole disappointment at the North American box office. Twentieth Century Fox’s “City of Ember” opened at No. 10 with $3.2 million, in spite of its estimated $38 million production costs.

Other top 10 films were “Nights in Rodanthe,” with $4.6 million, “Appaloosa,” with $3.34 million and “The Duchess,” starring Keira Knightley as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, with $3.32 million.