Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Making a Dumb and Dumber sequel 20 years later was a pretty genius idea after all.

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels' Dumb and Dumber To shot to the top of the weekend box office with an impressive $38 million, according to studio estimates from tracking service Rentrak.

What makes the huge tally even more impressive: The film wasn't loved by critics (a dismal 27% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com) or audiences (only slightly better at 61%).

"But it's the strong brand that drew people and the nostalgia," says Rentrak analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Harry and Lloyd hit the big screen 20 years ago and it was so over the top, the original achieved cult status. This was pure escapism and it was huge."

Dumb and Dumber marks Carrey's biggest live-action opener since 2003's Bruce Almighty. The film, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, was Daniels' highest opening ever.

Disney's animated Big Hero 6 continued to impress with a second-place finish in its second weekend, earning $36 million. That pushed the film above the $100 million mark to $112 million total.

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar took in $29.1 million and third place, for $98 million total since it opened Nov. 4. Beyond the Lights, Relativity's love story between a singer and the security detail assigned to protect her, opened to $6.5 million for fourth place.

Gone Girl wrapped up the top five after its stars were honored Friday at the Hollywood Film Awards. The film took in $4.6 million for a total of $153 million in seven weeks.

The weekend was also a key awards season marker featuring the limited debut of Foxcatcher in six theaters. The ensemble piece starring Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum impressed with a per-screen average of $48,019 for a total of $288,000.

Jon Stewart's directorial debut Rosewater opened in 371 theaters and took in $1.2 million for a per-screen average of $3,000.

Tommy Lee Jones' directorial effort. The Homesman, opened in four theaters with an estimated per screen average of $12,000 ($48,000 total). The Western drama stars Jones and Hilary Swank.

Eddie Redmayne's turn as physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything continued to pick up steam in its second limited weekend. It took an estimated $738,000 in 41 locations ($18,000 per screen average).

The top 10 was also filled with award contenders, including Bill Murray's St. Vincent (No. 6, $4 million in its sixth week of release), Jake Gyllenhaal's Nightcrawler (No. 8 and $3 million in its third week) and Michael Keaton's return in Birdman (No. 10 and $2.5 million in its fifth week).

Final numbers are expected Monday.

Sizable box office earnings are expected next weekend for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1, which opens Friday.