A blood-spitting vampire film conquered North American theaters
this weekend, beating out more serious dramas with A-list Hollywood
stars to debut in the first place at the box office.
Sony's 30 Days of Night, a horror tale set in an Alaska
town during its period of prolonged winter darkness, took in an
estimated US$16 million, according preliminary box office figures
released Sunday.
Last week's leader, romantic comedy Tyler Perry's Why Did I
Get Married dropped to second place in its second weekend in
theaters, taking in about US$12.1 million.
Disney's family comedy The Game Plan came in third with
US$8.1 million, followed by George Clooney's legal thriller
Michael Clayton with US$7.1 million.
Ben Affleck's directorial debut about a case of child
kidnapping, Gone Baby Gone, was in fifth place at the box
office with US$6 million in its opening weekend.
Meanwhile, new releases starring Oscar-winning actresses Reese
Witherspoon and Halle Berry debuted this weekend to disappointing
numbers, with Witherspoon's anti-terror drama Rendition in
the ninth place at box office and Berry's family tragedy Things
We Lost in the Fire in 15th.
The overall Hollywood box office was down for the fifth-straight
weekend, as the top-selling 12 films took in US$79.7 million
collectively, about 10 percent lower than that in the same weekend
last year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2007)