LOS ANGELES — The horror tale "30 Days of Night" had three days of box-office bite.

The Sony fright flick, with Josh Hartnett leading Alaskans against ravenous vampires that turn up for the prolonged winter darkness, debuted as the weekend's No. 1 movie.

Audiences continued to choose merriment over misery as the latest crop of sober Academy Awards hopefuls, among them "Gone Baby Gone," "Rendition" and "Things We Lost in the Fire," debuted with so-so to dismal numbers.

1. "30 Days of Night," $16 million.

2. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", $12.1 million.

3. "The Game Plan," $8.1 million.

4. "Michael Clayton," $7.1 million.

5. "Gone Baby Gone," $6 million.

6. "The Comebacks," $5.85 million.

7. "We Own the Night," $5.5 million.

8. "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas," $5.1 million.

9. "Rendition," $4.2 million.

10. "The Heartbreak Kid," $3.9 million.