“Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” despite its poor reviews and the failed attempt to live up to expectations, has managed to top the box office chart last week-end, with the tickets sold having totaled $33.8 million from Friday through Sunday.

Box office tracking firm Media by Numbers reported that the comedy was followed by Clint Eastwood’s „Gran Torino,” with earnings having amounted to an estimated $22.2 million.

The top five productions further included Lionsgate’s „My Bloody Valentine 3-D,” Searchlight’s „Notorious” and Paramount’s „Hotel for Dogs.”

„Mall Cop,” telling the story of a shopping mall security guard that goes from clumsy, underestimated guy to hero saving the day when he is the only one who can fight off a gang of criminals, cost $26 million to make, while Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment, said that the movie had been expected to bring in approximately $25 million within its first four days.

Another production that beat previous forecasts was „Notorious,” the biopic about Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious B.I.G., a Brooklyn rapper who was killed in 1997, according to Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox.

As for the remake of a 1981 Canadian horror movie „My Bloody Valentine 3-D,” it was shown in 3-D by 40 percent of theaters, which brought in five times the amount coming from conventional showings.

Initially, it had been expected that 3-D showings would generate three times the earnings generated by conventional screenings, Steve Rothenberg, president of domestic distribution for Lionsgate, stated.