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'G-Force' guinea pigs scramble to box office top spot
2009-07-27
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Harry Potter proved no match for a crack squad of secret agent guinea pigs of "G-Force" at the North American box office this weekend, final figures showed Monday. The action-comedy "G-Force," featuring the voices of Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage as secret agent rodents on a mission to save the world, snatched top spot from "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," earning 31.7 million dollars in its first week, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. The sixth installment of the "Harry Potter" series, which sets the scene for the looming final battle between Harry and his nemesis Lord Voldemort in the concluding films, dropped to second place, taking 29.4 million dollars. In third place was new release "The Ugly Truth," featuring Katherine Heigl as a romantically challenged producer seeking love, which earned 27.6 million dollars. Horror movie "Orphan" took fourth place. The film, which tells the story of a couple who discover the Russian orphan they have adopted is not who she seems, took 12.9 million dollars in its first week in theaters. Down three places to number five was "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," a lighthearted animated movie featuring the voices of Queen Latifah and Dennis Leary, which earned 8.4 million dollars in its fourth week of release. At number six was "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," Michael Bay's sequel to the first Transformers movie in 2007, which earned 8.1 million dollars in its fifth week, for a total of 279 million dollars. "The Hangover," a raucous comedy about the fallout from a Las Vegas bachelor party, took box office seventh spot, earning 6.5 million dollars for a seven-week total of 247 million. Down three places at number eight was "The Proposal," a romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock as a pushy boss who marries her younger assistant to get a US visa, which earned 6.4 million dollars. "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp as notorious US gangster John Dillinger, slipped two spots to ninth place, pulling in 4.3 million dollars in its fourth week in theaters. Rounding out the top 10 was "Bruno," a raunchy adult comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a gay Austrian fashionista. The controversial "mockumentary" plunged six places in its third week in theaters, earning 2.8 million dollars.
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