Marley & Me, comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, leads box office
January 04 at 19:06 | ReutersThe 20th Century Fox movie earned $24.1 million during the three days beginning Friday, taking its 11-day haul to $106.5 million.
Bert Livingston, senior vice-president of domestic distribution at the News Corp-owned studio, said it was too early to predict where the picture would end up, but "It's still got a lot of money in it." "Marley & Me" is based on John Grogan's tear-jerker memoir about a couple and their lovable Labrador retriever.
The rankings of the top seven pictures were unchanged from last weekend as no new films opened in wide release. The Adam Sandler comedy "Bedtime Stories" was No. 2 with $20.3 million, and a total of $85.4 million. The Brad Pitt drama "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was No. 3 with $18.4 million, and a total of $79.0 million. As with "Marley & Me," they were released on Christmas Day.
Tom Cruise's Hitler-assassination thriller "Valkyrie," another Christmas Day release, was No. 4 with $14.0 million and a total of $60.7 million. Jim Carrey's former chart-topper "Yes Man" followed with $13.9 million and a 17-day haul of $79.4 million.
The focus is now shifting to Oscar contenders that are about to expand nationally after playing for several weeks in limited release. Among them is actor/director Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino," which has earned $9.7 million after playing in under 100 theaters for four weekends. The neighborhood comedy-drama will widen to about 2,700 theaters on Friday.
"Bedtime Stories" was released by Walt Disney Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. "Valkyrie" was released by United Artists, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which is privately held. "Yes Man" and "Gran Torino" were released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Philip Barbara)