Despite a somewhat disappointing opening last Wednesday ($6.5 million), Tropic Thunder actually managed to surpass the four-time box office winner. The comedy grossed $25.8 million over the past three days, nearly $10 million more than its caped competitor.

And while Ben Stiller should be happy by his movie’s accomplishment, the Dreamworks/Paramount film still left a lot to be desired. Recent comedies such as Get Smart ($38.6 million) and Step Brothers ($30.9 million) debuted to better numbers. But then those two films didn’t have a distraction like Michael Phelps to contend with.

In other news, The Dark Knight‘s $16.3 million take gave the sequel the extra boost it needed to finally pass Star Wars. The Warner Bros. film is now officially the second highest grosser of all time. Meanwhile, Vicky Cristina Barcelona ($3.7 million) gave Woody Allen his biggest debut since Small Time Crooks in 2000.

1. Tropic Thunder, Dreamworks/Paramount, $25,812,796 (avg. $7777)
2. The Dark Knight, Warner Bros., $16,379,293 (avg. $4562)
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warner Bros., $14,611,273 (avg. $4233)
4. Mirrors, 20th Century Fox, $11,161,074 (avg. $4190)
5. Pineapple Express, Sony, $9,808,295 (avg. $3193)
6. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Universal, $8,205,720 (avg. $2440)
7. Mamma Mia!, Universal, $6,096,250 (avg. $2200)
8. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Warner Bros., $5,785,250 (avg. $2132)
9. Step Brothers, Sony, $4,807,904 (avg. $1816)
10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, MGM, $3,755,575 (avg. $5427)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)