Action comedy "Tropic Thunder" was the number one movie at the box office
in North America for the third straight weekend, as US and Canadian theaters saw
ticket sales down a sharp 23 percent from the same weekend last year.
The Paramount vehicle for star, producer and co-writer Ben Stiller took in
US$11.5 million this weekend, with a total take of US$83.8 million over three
weeks in release, according to box office tracking firm Media By Numbers
yesterday.
20th Century Fox's sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." premiered at the number two
spot with US$9.7 million over the weekend, while this summer's blockbuster "The
Dark Knight" rose back from number four last week to number three.
The Batman movie on Sunday became only the second film ever after "Titanic"
to cross the half-billion-dollar threshold for ticket sales in North America.
"Titanic," which grossed over US$600 million in US and Canada, is still No. 1
money maker worldwide in the modern cinema history.
The top 12 movies took in US$75.2 million collectively over the weekend, down
23 percent from the same weekend last year.
