0 Raunchy teddy bear 'Ted' tops North America box office

LOS ANGELES: "Ted," a comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and his raunchy teddy bear pal, topped the North American box office this weekend, besting the male strippers of "Magic Mike," industry estimates showed Sunday.

"Ted" -- a film directed by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane in which Wahlberg's childhood toy comes to life -- earned $54.1 million in its debut, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"Magic Mike," starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey as male strippers, raked in $39.2 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend.

"Brave," Pixar's 3D fairytale about a Scottish princess trying to rescue her mother from an evil witch, dropped from first to third place, taking in $34 million.

Tyler Perry's "Madea's Witness Protection" debuted in fourth place with $26.35 million in ticket sales. Animated hit sequel "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" dropped to fifth place at $11.8 million.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," a slasher flick casting America's 16th president as a crusader against both slavery and vampires, earned $6 million for sixth place.

It was followed by Ridley Scott's sci-fi adventure "Prometheus" with $4.9 million in ticket sales.

Eighth place went to "Moonrise Kingdom," the latest from director Wes Anderson starring Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton. The indie coming-of-age film took in $4.87 million.

"Snow White and the Huntsman," a new twist on the classic fairy tale starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, finished in ninth place with $4.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was family drama "People Like Us," which took in $4.3 million in its opening weekend.

Final figures were due out Monday. (AFP)

0 Disney's "Brave" rides to box office win

LOS ANGELES: Disney's new animated movie, "Brave," about a rebellious, red-headed princess battled to the top of movie box office charts over the weekend, scoring $80 million in ticket sales around the world.

The fairy tale from Disney's Pixar studio pulled in $66.7 million at domestic theaters, plus $13.5 million from nternational markets. "Brave" easily topped new historical/horror mashup "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," which finished the weekend in third place.

The 3D "Brave" is set in the ancient Scottish highlands and centers around horseback-riding teen princess Merida, who defies her mother and her kingdom's traditions. Merida, voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, must then use her courage and archery skills to undo a curse.

The movie brings the 13th consecutive No. 1 opening to Pixar, which has become Hollywood's most reliable studio during its 17-year history of making films. Starting with "Toy Story" in 1995, its 12 films before "Brave" have generated more than $7.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Hollywood.com.

Its 2010 film "Toy Story 3" was the biggest selling film that year, with $415 million in U.S. ticket sales and nearly $1.1 billion worldwide.

"Brave" is a departure for Pixar, and is its first film to feature a strong female as the lead character, following a long Disney tradition with female heroines that in recent years have included "Mulan" and "Pocahontas." "Brave" cost about $185 million to make.

Ahead of the weekend, industry tracking suggested "Brave" would secure between $55 million and $60 million in domestic ticket sales, putting the film line with most of Pixar's recent debuts, but the film topped expectations.

"Brave" knocked another animated family film, "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," to No. 2 after its two weeks in the top spot. The movie about a pack of escaped zoo animals took in $20 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters over the weekend, and the worldwide total since its debut rose to $157.6 million.

HONEST ABE BATTLES VAMPIRES

In third place on domestic charts, thriller "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" rung up a solid $16.5 million. The movie imagines the 16th U.S. president fighting creatures of the night that are plotting to take over the country. Benjamin Walker stars as the axe-wielding Lincoln in the $70-million 3D production.

The movie rung up another $8.1 million in international markets.

Distributor 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp, had projected domestic sales would hit around $15 million for the weekend.

In fourth place, "Alien" director Ridley Scott's movie, "Prometheus," about explorers searching for the origins of mankind added $10 million in domestic sales to bring its global sales after three weeks to $108.5 million.

Another new release, "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" pulled in $3.8 million, for a disappointing 10th place. The dark comedy starring Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley tells the story of a man who goes on a road trip as an asteroid speeds toward Earth.

The film, which cost less than $10 million to make, played in 1,618 theaters, fewer than the 3,000-plus for the weekend's other big movies.

The fifth spot went to Universal's "Snow White and the Huntsman," which took in $8 million domestically to bring its four-week global total to $137 million.

"Madagascar 3" was produced by Dreamworks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. News Corp movie studio 20th Century Fox released "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and "Prometheus." Focus Features, a unit of Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures, released "Seeking a Friend." (Reuters)

0 ‘Underworld Awakening’ tops US box office

LOS ANGELES: "Underworld Awakening," about the exploits of a woman vampire warrior, grabbed top North American box office honors in its opening weekend, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said Monday.

The 3D film starring Kate Beckinsale garnered $25.3 million at the box office, outmaneuvering the debut of "Red Tails," which recounts the World War II deeds of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots, with $18.8 million.

The two new films pushed last week's top attraction, Mark Wahlberg's crime drama "Contraband," to third place with $12 million over the weekend.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," the Tom Hanks-Sandra Bullock story of a family impacted by the 9/11 attacks, brought in $10 million in its first weekend of wide release.

Rounding out the top 10 were action flick "Haywire" ($8.4 million), "Beauty And The Beast" in 3D ($8.8 million), "Joyful Noise" ($5.9 million), "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" ($5.6 million), "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows" ($4.5 million) and "The Iron Lady" ($3.7 million). (AFP)

0 Cruise rings in New Year at top of box office

LOS ANGELES: Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" topped the North American box office for a second straight weekend, ringing in the New Year with $30 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The action film, the fourth in the series, thus far has taken in $133 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In second place was "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," a sequel to the 2009 film about the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It took in $22.1 million in the third week since its release.

In third place with $18.3 million was "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," the third animated film about the adorable singing critters.

Fourth place went to Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," about the bond between a boy and his horse during World War I, which was expected to reap in $16.9 million.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" -- the Hollywood adaptation of the wildly popular Stieg Larsson novel, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara -- took in $16.3 million for fifth place.

Family film "We Bought A Zoo" starring Matt Damon finished in sixth place, taking in $14.3 million.

Another Spielberg film, "The Adventures of Tintin," about an intrepid Belgian boy reporter, was seventh with $12 million.

Star-studded holiday romance "New Year's Eve" earned $6.7 million for eighth place, while thriller "The Darkest Hour" took ninth place with $4.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was "The Descendants" starring George Clooney, which grossed $3.7 million. (AFP)