Manny The Movie Guy /

Moviegoers wanted to be scared over the weekend and pushed "Contagion" to the top! The pandemic thriller from Warner Bros. debuted at No. 1 with $23.1 million. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the star-studded affair featured Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Marion Cotillard. "Contagion's" box-office win signaled the beginning of the fall movie season and the end of "The Help's" box-office domination.

The civil rights film from DreamWorks Pictures fell to No. 2 with $8.7 million. But so far, "The Help" has amassed $137 million at the domestic box-office, not bad for a racial-tension drama.

Meanwhile, "Warrior" starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton lacked the power punch to debut at the top, but it opened at No. 3 with $5.6 million. Lionsgate believed that the fantastic film will be in theaters for a long time because of great word-of-mouth.

(For my "Warrior" movie review, click here. For my "Warrior" interviews with Nick Nolte click here, for Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy click here, for Jennifer Morrison click here, and for director Gavin O'Connor click here)

But the "flop of the week" title belonged to "Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star" co-written and produced by Adam Sandler and starring Nick Swardson. The Happy Madison film only managed to sell $1.5 million in three days finishing way outside of the Top 10. Uh-oh!

Here's the Top 10 Box-Office Films for weekend of September 9th:

• "Contagion," $23.1 million
• "The Help," $8.7 million
• "Warrior," $5.6 million
• "The Debt," $4.9 million
• "Colombiana," $4 million
• "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $3.8 million
• "Shark Night 3D," $3.5 million
• "Apollo 18," $2.9 million
• "Our Idiot Brother," $2.7 million
• "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," $2.5 million