Disney and Walden Media's $180 million budgeted production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made just over $67 million at the box office this weekend, according to boxofficemojo.com. The live-action C.S. Lewis adaptation earned the No. 1 spot for the weekend, in front of Syriana ($12 million) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($10.3 million).

Bringing relief in a slow year at the box office, overall business was up 17% from the comparable weekend in 2004.

The Narnia film also has spurred new interest in the books, which are enjoying high sales in the Christian market. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Top 100 Books, reporting Dec. 2, included 12 “Narnia” books, sets or companion volumes. While movie tie-in editions-distributed by Zondervan-held the No. 7 and 18 spots, the companion book Knowing Aslan by Thomas Williams (W Publishing Group) was at No. 19. A boxed set and one-volume edition of the series also ranked high.

The film is playing on about 6,800 screens across 3,616 locations. The opening was the second-biggest ever for December behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($72.8 million) in 2003.