''Inside Man''-ned up to the top spot

Spike Lee ought to think about casting Denzel Washington in all of his movies. Boosted by the star power of Washington, Jodie Foster, and Clive Owen, Lee’s bank-heist thriller Inside Man topped the box office chart with a strong $28.9 million, according to studio estimates.

That more than doubled Lee’s previous top debut, The Original Kings of Comedy, which grossed $11.1 million (though it played in fewer than 900 theaters). It also counts as Washington’s career-best opening, beating Man on Fire‘s $22.8 million take. But it fell just short of Foster’s top debut, which remains Panic Room, with $30.1 million.

Second place went to V for Vendetta, which dropped 52 percent to $12.3 million in its second weekend, while the new horror flick Stay Alive placed third with $11.2 million.

Rounding out the top five were Failure to Launch and The Shaggy Dog with $10.8 million and $9.1 million, respectively, leaving the weekend’s other new wide release, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, to open in seventh place with only $7 million. Even Deuce Biglow: European Gigolo managed a better opening than that.