NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ¿ "Enchanted'', the story of a fairy-tale princess magically transported to the real world, was the top film for a second straight weekend, with $17 million in ticket sales for Walt Disney Co.

The movie faced only one new wide release, the thriller "Awake'', which finished in fourth place with sales of $6 million, box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e-mailed statement.

"Enchanted" stars Amy Adams as a princess banished from her fantasy world to modern New York.

It's the third movie from Disney this year to be the top film two weeks in a row after "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "The Game Plan''. The studio is third in US ticket sales with $1.25 billion this year. Time Warner Inc. is number one with $1.66 billion.

"It got great reviews, which helps make it a no-brainer for parents," Gitesh Pandya, publisher of BoxOfficeGuru.com, said in an interview. "I can see `Enchanted' going well north of the $100 million mark by the end of its run."

The film will fall from first place next weekend when Time Warner releases "The Golden Compass'', he said.

"Enchanted" co-stars Susan Sarandon as an evil queen who forces the princess to give up the magical kingdom and Prince Charming for Manhattan.

The princess's dilemma is complicated when she falls for a single dad played by Patrick Dempsey. James Marsden also co-stars.

"Awake'', a Weinstein Co. film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., stars Hayden Christensen as a man undergoing heart surgery whose anesthesia leaves him awake and paralyzed during the operation.

Jessica Alba stars as his wife.

In second place, "This Christmas" from Sony Corp. had sales of $8.4 million. In the film, family relationships are strained as siblings come home for the holidays for the first time in years.

Loretta Devine and Laz Alonso co-star.

"Beowulf'', based on the epic poem, remained in third place with $7.9 million in sales.

The film follows the legendary warrior as he battles the monster Grendel and its mother, played by Angelina Jolie. The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, uses performance-capture technology to animate the characters.

The movie, which has had $68.6 million in ticket sales since its November 16 release, is distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures.

"Beowulf" had a production budget of about $150 million, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, a researcher based in Burbank, California.

News Corp.'s "Hitman'', based on the video game, fell one spot to fifth place with $5.8 million in sales.

The movie features Agent 47, a genetically engineered assassin who is sought by authorities after becoming entangled in a political conspiracy. Timothy Olyphant stars.

In sixth through tenth, respectively, were: "Fred Claus'', from Time Warner, with $5.6 million; "August Rush'', also from Warner, at $5.2 million; "No Country for Old Men'', with $4.5 million for Disney's Miramax; Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie" finished with $4.47 million, and General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures release of "American Gangster" had $4.3 million.

Ticket sales drop off after the four-day US Thanksgiving weekend as moviegoers are distracted by shopping, Pandya said.

"Usually the movie that ruled the box office during the Thanksgiving weekend continues to rule this weekend," Pandya said. "Audiences disappear."

Sales for the top 12 films fell 5.8 percent to $76.6 million from a year earlier, according to Encino, California-based Media By Numbers.

Ticket sales this year have risen 4.7 percent to $8.68 billion, while attendance is up less than one percent.