Wreck­I­t R­alph earned $49.1 million over the weekend. AP PHOTO/DISNEY


Disney's Wreck-It Ralph opened strongly with $49.1 million and Robert Zemeckis' Flight, starring Denzel Washington, soared to a $25 million debut. Both opened above expectations, capitalizing on East Coast audiences looking for distraction amid the recovery from the storm.




With many East Coast children out of school Friday, Disney saw an uptick of business for Friday matinees to the well-reviewed Wreck-It Ralph.



Paramount's Flight, which had a smaller opening -- 1,884 theaters, or about half the number of Wreck-It Ralph -- might have been expected to be more harmed by Sandy, considering adult dramas generally depend heavily on the New York City market. But the film, which has found critical raves and Oscar buzz, proved particularly enticing to moviegoers, many of whom were surely pulled in by the star power of Washington, who plays an airline pilot of both heroic skill and debilitating alcoholism.

The top 10: 1. Wreck-It Ralph, $49.1 million; 2. Flight, $25 million; 3. Argo, $10.2 million; 4. The Man With the Iron Fists, $10.2 million; 5. Taken 2, $6 million; 6. Cloud Atlas, $5.3 million; 7. Hotel Transylvania, $4.5 million; 8. Paranormal Activity 4, $4.3 million; 9. Here Comes the Boom, $3.6 million; 10. Silent Hill: Revelation, $3.3 million.