Disproving the belief that women, particularly those over 30, can’t drive a big premier weekend, Sex and the City had the best opening ever for an R-rated comedy, bringing in an estimated $55.7 million. No romantic comedy of any rating has ever generated such large numbers, usually reserved for family films and the testosterone-driven blockbusters.

An amazing 85% of Friday’s audience for Sex and the City was female, and 80% of that was over age 25. The film also took the record for best opening for a live-action adaptation of a TV series – Mission Impossible held the previous record, with about $45 million. Sex and the City also scored the fifth best opening ever for an R-rated film.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finished second with an estimated $46 million, sending it over the domestic $200 million mark. It declined 54% from its opening weekend, a substantial and surprising drop for such a highly anticipated film. Another surprise came in the weekend’s third place finisher, The Strangers, which grossed an estimated $20.7 million. The film, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, cost little more than $9 million to produce. Iron Man finished in fourth place, with an estimated $14 million in its fifth weekend. So far, it’s the year’s most profitable film, netting a little over $276.6 million.

Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian came in fifth place on its third weekend, with an additional $13 million resulting in $115.7 million total gross so far.