BUZZ: Zombieland at #1, New Melissa Joan Hart & Joey Lawrence Series, and more

• Zombieland took the top spot with $25 mil, accompanied by critical adoration for just being dirty, good fun. It was quite the surprise hit, especially since it was up against Ricky Gervais' The Invention of Lying and Drew Barrymore's Whip It. These were the feature film directorial debuts for both actors, and while the critics were split on Gervais' secretly religious comedy, it was pretty much a consensus that Barrymore's coming of age dramedy is a must-see. However, with a 1700-theater release, Lying got the #4 spot with a $7 mil gross, and Whip It got the #6 spot and nearly $5 mil. Meanwhile, the Coen Brothers' indie comedy A Serious Man opened in 6 theaters with $252,000 and a lot of critical lovin'.

Surrogates dropped from #2 to #5 with $26 mil, only a quarter of its budget. The documentary Capitalism sky-rocketed from #31 to #7 after it was released in 900 more theaters. The Fame remake failed miserably, free-falling from #3 to #8 with barely $17 mil. The unbearably bland and awkward The Informant! dropped from #4 to #9 with $26 mil, even though it was a critic favorite. Jennifer Anniston's romantic dramedy Love Happens teeters at #10 with $19 mil. Retiring from the top 10 are Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself with $48 mil, the scifi horror Pandorum with $8 mil, Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds with $117 mil, the animated dystopia 9 with $39 mil, and the horror comedy Jennifer's Body with $15 mil.

• Just when you thought that Beyonce's "Single Ladies" would finally be put out to pasture after a year of parodies, homages, and awards, this Christmas, the Chipettes will be performing it in the Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. You know a song hasn't been done to death until the chipmunks do it. The lovely rodents will be voiced by Christina Applegate (Jeanette), Amy Poehler (Eleanor), and Anna Faris (Brittany). Check them out in the trailer.

• With the upcoming release of Twilight: New Moon and The Wolfman, more and more werewolf films are coming out of the woodworks. Maggie Stiefvater's supernatural romance novel Shiver has been greenlit. "The story covers a bittersweet paranormal romance between a teen who becomes a wolf each winter and his girlfriend, who helps him find the secret to staying human." I wonder which lucky teen actor will get tapped to star.

• For God knows what reason, Jessica Alba will appear in the third Meet the Parents film, Little Fockers. She'll "play an attractive pharmaceutical rep whose looks wreak havoc on the male characters." I don't know what that really means, but it sounds like she'll be playing the homewrecking "eye candy."

• James Franco (Pineapple Express) will play the recurring role of a mobster on the soap opera "General Hospital" for two months starting November 20th. It's his way of researching for an upcoming film role. Can't wait to see what justifies the humiliation.

• Both Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence are returning to television in an untitled ABC Family half-hour comedy. The plot: "Hailey (Hart), a political dynasty wild child-turned-politician who takes in her teenage niece and pre-adolescent nephew when her sister goes to prison and her brother-in-law flees. She turns for help to Jack (Lawrence), who, desperate for a job, moves in and becomes the family's 'manny.'" Best of luck.

• "Day One," a series that chronicles life on Earth after a global catastrophe, was down-graded from a series to a four-part series that'll premiere after the Winter Olympics.