'Halloween' slashes way to top of US box office
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LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The latest version of the knife-slashing "Halloween" horror tale topped the North American box office for the Labor Day weekend, industry estimates showed Monday.
Movie attendance for the three-day weekend that marks the end of the US summer break was expected to smash the previous Labor Day holiday mark with a 146 million-dollar-take for all films -- 120.04 million for the top 12 -- according to estimates by Exhibitor Relations, which tracks ticket sales.
Fright fest "Halloween," the newest in the nearly 30-year-old franchise, led the way for MGM and was projected to take in 31 million dollars in its debut weekend.
The film has director Rob Zombie turning John Carpenter's 1978 original story of deranged Halloween night slasher Mike Myers into an ocean of blood, complete with a gory account of Myers' disturbed childhood.
"Film-goers looking for copious amounts of mindless violence won't be disappointed," the San Francisco Chronicle wrote.
Teen sex comedy "Superbad," from the creator of hits "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," was running second at the region's theaters over the weekend, expected to pull in 15 million dollars for Sony.
"Balls of Fury," in its debut weekend, followed in third place with 14 million. Universal's spy thriller "The Bourne Ultimatum" earned 14.3 million and the action flick "Rush Hour 3" took in 10.3 million.
Filling out the top 10 for the four day Friday to Monday period, according to Exhibitor Relations projections, were "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (8.1 million), "The Nanny Diaries" (5.2 million), "Death Sentence" (5.1 million), "War" (5.1 million), and "Stardust" (3.9 million).
Final figures are expected Tuesday.