Cage digs up $171m Treasure
2008-01-07 09:21
Los Angeles - Nicolas Cage led the
North American box office for a third consecutive weekend with
his National Treasure sequel, according to studio estimates
issued on Sunday.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets earned $20.2m
in the three days beginning on January 4, taking the three-week total
for the Walt Disney Co adventure to $171m.
It is a day
or two away from surpassing the $173m total of 2004's
National Treasure to become the biggest film of Cage's
career. Internationally, the sequel has earned $100.6m.
Three films vied for the No 2 position, with I Am Legend
($16.4m) narrowly beating Juno ($16.2m) and
Alvin and the Chipmunks ($16m).
Rankings could change
when final data are issued on Monday.
After four weeks each, Will Smith's sci-fi thriller I Am
Legend has earned $228.7m, and Alvin and the
Chipmunks $176.7m.
Biggest 2007 release
The latter film will soon pass the
$183.1m total of The Simpsons to become the biggest
2007 release for Twentieth Century Fox.
In between, Juno jumped two places to No 3, bolstering
its status as an early awards-season contender.
The acclaimed
comedy about a pregnant teen who decides to place her baby for
adoption almost doubled its theatre count to 1 925 theatres, a
figure dwarfed by the 3 000-plus totals for the movies ahead of
it.
The Fox Searchlight Pictures release has earned $52m
after five weeks, and will boost its theatre count to about
2 200 next weekend, said studio president Peter Rice.
One new release
The top-10 contained one new release, One Missed Call,
which opened at No 5 with $13.5m, exceeding industry
projections of a debut in the single-digit range.
Based on a
cult Japanese horror, the film revolves around cell phone
messages that relay their owners' future death cries.
The film was released by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros
Pictures, which also handled I Am Legend.
Fox Searchlight and
Twentieth Century Fox are units of News Corp.