DreamWorks' animated Bee Movie buzzed into first place
at box office in North America over the weekend, as word of mouth
helped pack theaters with family crowds in its second weekend in
release, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.
The movie about a bee with a grudge up his stinger was estimated to
sell US$26 million in the three-day period at US and Canadian
theaters, zipping onto the top spot ahead of
American
Gangster, which was way ahead of the bee flick last weekend.
The DreamWorks computer-animated movie stars TV comedian-actor
Jerry Seinfeld as an insect buzzing mad because humans are taking
honey from his hive.
American Gangster, starring Academy Award winners
Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, dropped to No. 2 this week
with an estimated US$24.3 million in box office business. The crime
saga based the true life of 1970s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas has
done US$80 million in sales over two weeks.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Christmas comedy Fred Claus
opened in third place, with an estimated 19.2 million dollars,
followed by Tom Cruise's Lions for Lambs, a drama about
the US war in Afghanistan, premiered at No. 4 with 6.7 million
dollars.
The MGM film, co-starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep and
directed by Redford, was the first release by the rejuvenated MGM
banner United Artists since Cruise and producing partner Paula
Wagner took it over last year.
Disney romantic comedy Dan in Real Life was in fifth
with US$5.9 million. The film has grossed more than 30 million
dollars since its release two weeks ago.
(CRI.cn November 12, 2007)