The Al Pacino-Colin Farrell spy thriller The Recruit debuted as the No. 1 movie with $16.5 million in its first weekend. It was closely followed by Final Destination 2, a fright flick, which opened with $16.2 million.

The motorcycle-racing adventure Biker Boyz, with Laurence Fishburne and Derek Luke, premiered in third place with $10.1 million.

Kangaroo Jack was No. 4 with $9 million, while the previous weekend's top movie, the horror tale Darkness Falls, fell to fifth place with $7.5 million.

In limited release, the romantic comedy The Guru, starring Heather Graham, Marisa Tomei and Jimi Mistry, opened strongly with $648,000. Playing in 62 theaters, The Guru had a strong average of $10,452, compared with a $6,944 average in 2,376 cinemas for The Recruit, $5,716 in 2,834 theaters for Final Destination 2, and $5,719 in 1,766 locations for Biker Boyz.

Pairing Pacino with rising star Farrell broadened the audience for The Recruit, which drew almost equally among the 18-to-25, 26-to-34 and 35-to-49 age groups.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers took in $5 million over the weekend and edged past the $313.4 million total of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.