LOS ANGELES (February 10, 2013)--"Identity Thief," the comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy debuted at No. 1 with a $36.6 million opening weekend.

"Identity Thief" opened solidly despite the winter storm that buried much of the Northeast.

Distributor Universal Pictures estimated the storm might have choked off as much as 10 percent of the movie's business.

According to studio estimates Sunday, the previous weekend's top movie, the zombie romance "Warm Bodies," fell to No. 2 with $11.5 million, which raises its domestic total to $36.7 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, Steven Soderbergh's thriller "Side Effects," had a modest opening of $10 million, coming in at No. 3.