The 20-million dollar man (per role) Mel Gibson proved that sometimes you get what you pay for, as "Payback" nabbed the top spot with an estimated $21.4 million -- the biggest opening so far this year -- soundly knocking the low-budget teen flicks that have ruled for the last three weeks down the list. "She's All That," last week's No. 1 film, slid to second place with $12 million, while "Varsity Blues" fell to fourth with $4 million. (Rounding out the top 5 were the third-place "Patch Adams" with $4.5 million, and tying for fifth, the rereleased "Saving Private Ryan" and "Shakespeare in Love" with $3.6 million each.) Meanwhile, Sarah Michelle Gellar proved that casting a WB teen star alone doesn't guarantee a hit: Her "Simply Irresistible" debuted in ninth place with a simply terrible $2.4 million.

Meanwhile, the critical hit "Rushmore" was released, but only on 103 screens (compared to 2,720 for "Payback"). Still, the industry buzz seems to be working, as "Rushmore" pulled in $1.9 million, with a $17,961 per-screen average (more than double "Payback"'s $7,868). Next week "Rushmore" expands to a still-modest 580 theaters.

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