weekend box office

The swashbuckling feline from the ‘Shrek’ franchise, ‘Puss In Boots,’ still has plenty of lives to spare after its weekend haul of $34 million, putting it at the top of the charts in its first week of release.

‘Paranormal Activity 3,’ the third installment in the horror film franchise, received a warm welcome at the box office this weekend, earning $54 million and a spot at the top of the charts in its first week of release.

A new release, the futuristic Hugh Jackman boxing tale ‘Real Steel,’ took in $27.3 million to become the top earner at the box office this weekend.

Seventeen years after its initial box-office run, ‘The Lion King’ is again reigning supreme. The new 3D incarnation of the film, currently in a limited-engagement run, took in another $22 million to land atop the charts for the second weekend in a row.

In a limited engagement in 3D, the 1994 Disney classic, ‘The Lion King,’ earned $29 million to take the top spot at the box office this weekend. ‘Contagion,’ last week’s most popular movie, moved to second place, while Ryan Gosling’s ‘Drive’ took third in its debut week. Former box office champ ‘The Help’ came in fourth, and ‘Straw Dogs’ rounded out the top five.

In a weekend that saw many East Coast theaters closed because of Hurricane Irene, ‘The Help’ remained atop the box office for the second week in a row. The film, based on the best-selling book of the same name, has now earned a total of $96.6 million.

In its second week of release, strong word-of-mouth and positive reviews propelled ‘The Help’ past ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ to take the number one spot at the box office this weekend, while ‘Apes’ moved to the number two slot. ‘The Help’ earned $20.5 million, while ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ pulled in $16.3 million.