With competition from movies like Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" and comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," the Biggie Smalls biopic still performed well during its opening weekend, grabbing the no. 4 spot at the box office.

The film landed in theaters on Friday (January 16) and during the weekend raked in $21.5, proving to be more popular than expected beyond African American audiences, according to Chris Aronson, Senior VP at 20th Century Fox.

"We crossed over, which speaks volumes about his impact as a cultural icon," Aronson told the L.A. Times.

"Notorious" tells the life and death story of the hip-hop legend Notorious B.I.G., as he rises to fame from the streets of Brooklyn to the rap royalty.

At no. 1 was "Mall Cop" starring Kevin James, making $33.8 million. No. 2 was "Gran Torino" in its second week, taking $22.2 over this week, with a cumulative gross of $73.2 million.

At no. 3 was the Lionsgate horror flick "My Bloody Valentine 3-D," opening with $21.9 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was "Slumdog Millionaire" with $5.9 million over the weekend.