Going into this weekend, there were some people who believed Sony’s remake of Total Recall would give The Dark Knight Rises a run for its money. Those people were wrong. With an estimate of $36.4 million, TDKR claimed its third straight weekend at number one while Total Recall barely topped the debut of the Arnold Schwarzenegger original… back in 1990.

Universal’s Hop has just earned 2011’s highest debut weekend – if today’s estimate of $38.1 million from 3,579 locations proves accurate. For now the three-day estimate for the live-action/CGI-animated comedy stands less than one million ahead of Rango’s record from five weeks back.

Ouch.  Though it seemed likely after Friday’s figures were announced, the fact that Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules so easily topped the flashier Sucker Punch has still got to hurt the folks at Warners this morning.

In what turned out to be a closer race than many expected, the highly-hyped fanboy fantasy flick Sucker Punch placed first on Friday, besting  Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by less than one million dollars.  Zack Snyder’s latest feature claimed an estimated $8 million from 3,033 locations. With 2011’s box office record in mind, that is a decent start – especially as tracking put the film neck and neck or even slightly behind its Wimpy competition until early this morning.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 earned $7.3 million from 3,167 locations and with strong Saturday figures could easily pass Sucker Punch by the time weekend estimates are released.  Both features are expected to bring in $20 million by Sunday, leaving no clear front runner in the weekend race at this point.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Since the upcoming weekend is a bit light on new releases, it should be a big payday for Zack Snyder’s visionary epic Sucker Punch. It would be a surprise if the lovely ladies of Sucker Punch didn’t score a knockout against the family friendly sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, which also opens this weekend. As recent box offices have been rather lackluster, Snyder’s action-packed tour de force might just provide a shot in the arm.

Hit the jump for all our coverage on the headliners, as well as limited releases Miral, Peep World, Potiche and White Irish Drinkers.