LOS ANGELES -- Anger Management bullied its way to the No. 1 box-office spot, earning a whopping $44.5-million (U.S.) in its debut weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday.

The Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson comedy revived the box office after four straight slumping weekends as the top 12 movies took in $86.9-million, up 6 per cent from the same weekend last year.

Anger Management grossed more than the rest of the top 12 combined.

Last weekend's No. 1, Phone Booth, fell to second place with $7.5-million.

Taking third spot this weekend was What a Girl Wants with $6.7-million.

That was followed by Bringing Down the House with $4.6-million and A Man Apart with $4.5-million.

Playing in 3,551 theatres, Anger Management averaged an impressive $12,532 a cinema.

It had the highest gross ever for a movie opening in April, beating the previous record of $36.1-million set by last year's The Scorpion King.

Sandler plays a mild-mannered man railroaded into anger counselling with a therapist, played by Nicholson, who puts him through ordeals that goad him into comic outbursts.

Audiences have gobbled up comedies this year, possibly because they are looking for escape from news about the Iraq war. The $100-million hit Bringing Down the House was No. 1 for three straight weekends, and Head of State made its debut at the top of the box office.

"The comedy genre this year is just incapable of burning out," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"People are looking to blow off steam. What better way than seeing a movie that combines Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler?" Dergarabedian said.

In limited release, the low-budget Better Luck Tomorrow had a huge first weekend, grossing $398,489 in just 13 theatres for an average of $30,653.

The movie opens in Toronto and Vancouver this Friday.

Directed by Justin Lin, the film features a cast of unknowns in the story of straight-A, Asian-American teens who, bored with their suburban lives, slide into petty crimes that lead to violence.

MTV Films acquired Better Luck Tomorrow at last year's Sundance Film Festival, feeling its fresh faces, dark humour, eclectic music and ambivalent ending would appeal to the network's youthful audience.

Asian-Americans made up a bit more than half the audience, but the filmmakers hope it can cross over to a wider crowd as the movie expands to more theatres over the next two weekends.

"These kids could be anybody," said Van Toffler, who is MTV's president.

"It's silly to underestimate the eclectic movie-going tastes of our demographic. The cast doesn't have to look or feel like them for them to want to see it."