"Date Night" reigns at weekend North America box office

LOS ANGELES, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The weekend box office turned out to be a tight race between a 3-D blockbuster and a comedy newcomer vying to be the top dog, with the latter edged its gigantic foe out with a slightly more number of ticket receipts.

A poster of 20th Century Fox's "Date Night"(File Photo)

According to estimates released by North America box office authority, 20th Century Fox's "Date Night" is expected to be the champion of the billboard, garnering 27.1 million U.S. dollars in movie theaters in Canada and the United States.

The comedy, casting Steve Carell and Tina Fey as a NYC couple who steal a dinner reservation on a night out, prevails on Tina Fey's award-winning performance and reputation as one of America's best entertainers. The perfect match of comedy mainstay Steve Carell and Fey proved to be irresistable to both male and female audiences by combining action and romance in one tight knit package.

The film's billing is also helped by a great marketing campaign and a hilarious trailer launched by the Fox. However, given the aggressive push for "Date Night," it remains a decent rather than stellar opening in a session woefully missing a good comedy right now.

Last week's mega champ "Clash of the Titans," a 3-D action blockbuster is No.2 with 26.9 million dollars. The Warner Bros. action-remake quickly crossed the 100 million dollar mark and now stands at 110.5 million dollars in ticket sales after it had dropped a respectable 56 percent or 4 million dollars over the previous week.

Running a close No. 3 was DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon," which took in 25.4 million dollars, lifting its 17- day total to 133.9 million dollars in tickets.

Rounding out the top five are:

-- Lionsgate's "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?," No.4 with 11 million dollars this weekend, and 50 million dollars in two weeks;

--Disney's "The Last Song," Miley Cyrus's third major theatrical film, No.5 with 10 million dollars, and 42.4 million dollars in two weeks.