Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum" topped the Christmas weekend box office, exceeding expectations with over $30 million in ticket sales for the three days leading up to Christmas Day - despite getting lukewarm reviews from critics. The movie was an adaptation of a children's book.
The rest of the pack were far behind, with "The Pursuit of Happyness" - Will Smith's box office topper from last week, holding in second place with $15 million. The other new releases were the return of Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky Balboa" sitting at No. 3, the Robert De Niro - directed spy drama "The Good Shepherd" at No. 4, and "We Are Marshall" at No. 7 with a smaller than expected take of $6.6 million.
It was a tough weekend, with theatre-goers occupied with Christmas related pursuits, but studios hope business will pick up leading up to the New Year's weekend.
Last weekend's full top 10 was as follows:
1) Night at the Museum - $30.4 million
2) The Pursuit of Happyness - $15 million
3) Rocky Balboa - $12.2 million
4) The Good Shepherd - $10 million
5) Charlotte's Web - $7.6 million
6) Eragon - $7 million
7) We Are Marshall - $6.1 million
8) Happy Feet - $5.6 million
9) The Holiday - $4.9 million
10) The Nativity Story - $4.6 million
Posters for all of the above mentioned movies are available by clicking on the links.