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'Monster' box office debut for animated flick
2009-03-30
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Animated comedy "Monsters vs. Aliens" scared up huge earnings at the North American box office this weekend, scoring the biggest opening of the year with a whopping 59.3 million dollars. The animated romp, featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie, crushed the competition in the United States and Canada, netting 42.7 percent of total earnings of the top 12 films. The film tells the story of a ragtag group of monsters who are ordered to help battle invading aliens and save the world from destruction. Opening in second place was "The Haunting in Connecticut," a supernatural thriller about a family who are terrorized by supernatural forces when their charming new home turns out to be a former funeral parlor. The film, starring Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner, took a healthy 23 million dollars over the weekend. In third place was "Knowing," the sci-fi action thriller starring Nicolas Cage, which took in 14.7 million dollars. Buddy comedy "I Love You, Man" with Paul Rudd joking his way though love of fellow man, earned 12.7 million. It was trailed distantly by "Duplicity," the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen spy romp with 7.7 million dollars. Following the top five were "Race to Witch Mountain," the Disney adventure, which took in 5.8 million dollars; kidnapping action flick "12 Rounds" with 5.3 million; and "Watchmen." "Watchmen", which follows the lives of superheroes in an alternate 1985 America in Director Zack Snyder's faithful adaptation of Allan Moore's classic graphic novel, took an 2.73 million. The thriller "Taken" brought in 2.7 million dollars, and "The Last House on the Left," a remake of a 1972 Wes Craven horror flick, rounded out the top 10 with 2.6 million dollars.
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