By DAVID GERMAIN

LOS ANGELES -- Inspector Clouseau bumbled his way to the top of the box office as Steve Martin's "The Pink Panther" debuted with $21.7 million to lead a rush of new releases.

New Line's horror sequel "Final Destination 3" ran a close second with $20.1 million, followed by Universal's animated "Curious George" at No. 3 with $15.3 million and the Warner Bros. Thriller "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford in fourth with $13.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The overall box office rose slightly despite the Winter Olympics and a Northeast snowstorm, both of which kept many movie-goers at home. The top 12 movies took in $106.8 million, up 3 percent over the same weekend last year, when "Hitch" opened as the No. 1 movie with $43.2 million.

After a slump in which attendance dropped 7 percent in 2005, Hollywood is off to a better start this year. Revenues are at just over $1 billion, up 8 percent from last year's.

Sony's "The Pink Panther" stars Martin in the role defined by Peter Sellers, whose French detective Clouseau was the idiot-savant hero of a string of 1960s and '70s comedy hits by Blake Edwards, who continued the franchise into the '80s and '90s after Sellers' death.

The remake drew a broad audience, with parents and their children accounting for 51 percent of the crowds and viewers evenly divided between those older and younger than 25.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

1. "The Pink Panther," $21.7 million.

2. "Final Destination 3," $20.1 million.

3. "Curious George," $15.3 million.

4. "Firewall," $13.8 million.

5. "When a Stranger Calls," $10 million.

6. "Big Momma's House 2," $6.8 million.

7. "Nanny McPhee," $5.2 million.

8. "Brokeback Mountain," $4.2 million.

9. "Hoodwinked," $2.502 million.

10. "Underworld Evolution," $2.5 million.