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Eastwood's 'Gran Torino' shoots to top of box office
2009-01-12
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Clint Eastwood's latest movie, "Gran Torino," shot to the top of the North American box office this weekend, preliminary figures showed on Sunday. The 78-year-old directs and stars as a disgruntled Korean War veteran who fends off his family's pleas to enter a retirement home and eventually befriends a troubled Hmong youth who tried to steal his car, a Gran Torino. Promoted with film excerpts that show Eastwood aiming a double-barreled shotgun, the film brought in 29 million dollars over the weekend for a total of 40 million since it began showing in select theatres four weeks ago. The debut comedy "Bride Wars" took 21.5 million dollars for the second slot with its tale of feuding friends (Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson) who each try to sabotage the other's wedding after it is scheduled on the same day. Another debut, "The Unborn," came in third with 21.09 million dollars, featuring a woman who is haunted by a spirit that may be her unborn twin. The life-with-a-dog saga, "Marley and Me," starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson slid to fourth place after weeks on top, bringing in 11.3 million dollars for a total of 123.7 million since its Christmas debut. The cinematic reversal featuring Aniston's ex-flame Brad Pitt as a man who is born old and gets younger with time, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," followed close behind with 9.4 million dollars. In sixth place with 8.5 million dollars was Disney's "Bedtime Stories," starring comedian Adam Sandler. Tom Cruise's Nazi war epic "Valkyrie," about a German officer's bid to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944, brought in 6.6 million dollars for seventh place. Jim Carrey's comedy "Yes Man" hung on to the top 10 with 6.1 million dollars for eighth place, amassing a total of 89 million dollars since it first hit theatres. "Not Easily Broken", a drama about a difficult marriage based on a novel by real-life Texas pastor T.D. Jakes, took in 5.6 million dollars in its opening weekend, taking ninth place. In 10th was Will Smith's drama "Seven Pounds," bringing in 3.9 million dollars.
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