'Obsessed' movie-goers flock to Beyonce thriller
AFP
LOS ANGELES - Movie-goers were hooked on Beyonce this weekend as the superstar singer's taut thriller "Obsessed" clawed its way to the top of the North American box office, final figures showed Monday.
The film, which also stars HBO's "The Wire" gangster Idris Elba as a businessman whose life is turned upside down by an obsessive new colleague, earned 28.6 million dollars during its first three days in theaters, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Another high new entry, "Fighting," punched its way to third place, telling the story of small-town boy Channing Tatum trying to make it big in New York City. The fighting flick, featuring intense bare-knuckle scraps, took in 11 million dollars in its opening weekend.
"The Soloist," an inspiring musical tale based on a true story, starring actors Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx, came in fourth with 9.7 million dollars in ticket sales, also in its first weekend.
Rounding out this week's new entries was Disney's "Earth" in fifth spot. The documentary culls nature footage from the BBC's landmark series "Planet Earth." It brought in 8.8 million dollars in its first three days.
"Monsters and Aliens," an animated tale of a rag-tag group of monsters who save the world from destruction, dropped two spots to sixth place, earning 8.5 million dollars to bring its total to 174.8 million over five weeks.
Washington-based "State of Play" took an A-list cast to seventh, raking in 6.8 million dollars in its second weekend.
Starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren, the thriller centers on reporters and police trying to solve the murder of a young lawmaker's mistress.
Miley Cyrus vehicle "Hannah Montana: The Movie," fell hard from third place to eighth. The film version of the popular Disney TV series took in 6.4 million dollars for a total of 65.6 million in three weeks.
For the ninth spot, car chase movie "Fast & Furious," starring Vin Diesel, earned 6.2 million dollars to bring total receipts to 145.4 million dollars.
Rounding out the North America top ten was action sequel "Crank: High Voltage," which took in 2.6 million dollars in its second weekend at the box office.
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