"Failure to Launch", a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, took off at theatres, debuting as the top weekend movie with $24.6 million in US.

Two remakes opened in second and third place. Disney's family flick "The Shaggy Dog", starring Tim Allen, was No. 2 with $16 million, and Fox Searchlight's horror tale "The Hills Have Eyes" was No. 3 with $15.5 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

"Failure to Launch", released by Paramount, bumped off Lionsgate's Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion", which had been the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends. That movie slipped to No. 5, grossing $5.8 million to raise its total to $55.8 million.

Reviews generally were poor for all three new films, but they overcame the weak critical reception to combine for a healthy $56.1 million. Still, they were unable to match last year's top three, "Robots", "The Pacifier" and "Be Cool", which combined for $64.4 million over the same weekend.

"Failure to Launch" stars McConaughey as a 35-year-old still living with his parents, who hire a bombshell played by Parker to entice him into moving out. The audience was two-thirds female, according to distributor Paramount. "There hasn't been a good date movie in a while, and I think women just felt like it was going to be a fun movie," said Rob Moore, the studio's worldwide head of marketing and distribution.