New York - Five new films - about dogs, children's magic, reverse ageing, a comic book character and Tom Cruise's Nazi epic - brought Hollywood its best Christmas four-day weekend box office ever, reports said Sunday.

Theatres in Canada and the US raked in 173 million dollars, with Marley and Me - the story of a family and their willful dog - opening at number one with 51.7 million dollars, far more than expected. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson play the parents in the neurotic dog's family.

Bedtime Stories, a Disney comedy, claimed second place, with Adam Sandler playing a hotel handyman who tells stories to his niece and nephew. The children add fantastic touches which then come true.

Third place went to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an F Scott Fitzgerald story starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt, who plays a man who grows younger instead of older.

Tom Cruise's Valkyrie rose to fourth place despite some harsh reviews. In the WWII thriller, the US superstar plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an aristocratic German who headed a group of top officers who hatched a plot to kill Hitler late in the war.

Places five to eight went to Yes Man, Seven Pounds, The Tale of Despereaux and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

The fifth new film, The Spirit, the animated version of Will Eisner's comic book series starring Samuel L Jaackson and Scarlett Johansson, opened in ninth place.

Tenth place went to Doubt. dpa