'Little Fockers' laughs its way to box office lead
AFP
LOS ANGELES- "Little Fockers," the third installment of Robert De Niro-Ben Stiller comedies about nightmare in-laws, topped the North American box office for a second week in a row, figures showed Monday.
The film grossed 25.8 million dollars over the three-day New Year's Eve weekend, with total ticket sales soaring past the 100-million mark just 12 days after its release, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Jeff Bridges plays drunken, hard-nosed US Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn in the new version of the 1969 classic, which took in 24.4 million dollars a week after giving the Coen brothers their best-ever opening.
Bridges also stars in the third top-seller -- "TRON: Legacy" -- which captured 18.8 million dollars in ticket sales in its third weekend.
The sequel to the 1982 sci-fi cult hit stars 61-year-old Oscar-winner Bridges appearing opposite a computer-generated version of his younger self from the original movie.
The original "TRON" -- about a hacker transported into a computer game world -- was one of the first-ever computer animated films. It did well at the box office and became a cult hit for a generation of budding sci-fi fans.
The 3-D and partly computer animated family film "Yogi Bear" reclaimed the fourth spot after slipping to fifth last weekend, earning 12.4 million dollars.
It was followed by "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," the third installment in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series based on the classic C.S. Lewis children's books, which earned 10.3 million dollars.
Mark Wahlberg's boxing drama "The Fighter," came in sixth with 10 million dollars, followed by the animated Disney fable "Tangled," about long-haired Princess Rapunzel, netting 9.8 million.
The Jack Black 3D comedy "Gulliver's Travels," based on Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel about a voyage to the Lilliput kingdom of tiny people, held at a disappointing eighth place in its second weekend, with 9.3 million.
Ballet thriller "Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman as a dancer in a New York company exploring the dark sides of the industry and her own sensuality, held at ninth place with 8.9 million dollars in ticket sales.
Rounding out the top ten was the British historical drama "The King's Speech," featuring Colin Firth as a stuttering King George VI who is helped to overcome his impediment by an eccentric therapist played by Geoffrey Rush.
It earned 7.8 million dollars in a limited showing in 700 theaters.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------