LOS ANGELES ~ The tale of a married couple’s life with a troublesome canine, Marley & Me, took the biggest bite out of the North American box office for a second week, final figures showed.

Starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, Marley was the top draw for audiences in United States and Canada, bringing in US$24.3 million in its second weekend, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

Adam Sandler’s comedy Bedtime Stories also started the New Year strongly, adding another $20.5 million for an overall take of $85.5 million after only two weeks on release.

Ranking third was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher’s period love story starring Aniston’s ex-husband Brad Pitt, which took in $18.7 million with its story of a man who is born old and gets younger with time.

Tom Cruise’s Nazi epic Valkyrie, about a plot by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler, came in fourth with $14 million.

The Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man, about a man who changes his life by agreeing to everything, raked in $13.9 million for fifth place in its third weekend in theatres.

The drama Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith as a man haunted by a secret, pulled in $10 million, while the animated flick The Tale of Despereaux, about a big-eared mouse with great curiosity and ambitions, followed in seventh place with $6.9 million.

Science fiction thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still, was in eighth ninth place after its number-one debut in December, earning $5 million. The Fox remake of a 1951 cult classic stars Keanu Reeves as an alien that comes to Earth.

Doubt, starring Meryl Streep as a nun who confronts molestation in the Catholic church, climbed to ninth place in its fourth week, bringing in $5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 with $4.7 million  was Slumdog Millionaire, the critically acclaimed flick from UK director Danny Boyle that tells the story of a young man from Mumbai who seeks out his childhood sweetheart by entering a TV gameshow.