娱乐英语新闻："Tropic Thunder" atop box office in N. America for 3rd weekend

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Action comedy "Tropic Thunder" was the number one movie at the box office in North America for the third straight weekend, as U.S. and Canadian theaters saw ticket sales down a sharp 23 percent from the same weekend last year.

    The Paramount vehicle for star, producer and co-writer Ben Stiller took in 11.5 million U.S. dollars this weekend, with a total take of 83.8 million dollars over three weeks in release, according to box office tracking firm Media By Numbers Sunday.

    20th Century Fox's sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." premiered at the number two spot with 9.7 million dollars over the weekend, while this summer's blockbuster "The Dark Knight" rose back from number four last week to number three.

Director and cast member Ben Stiller poses with his wife Christine Taylor at the premiere of "Tropic Thunder" at the Mann's Village theatre in Westwood, California August 11, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on August 13

    The Batman movie on Sunday became only the second film ever after "Titanic" to cross the half-billion-dollar threshold for ticket sales in North America. "Titanic," which grossed over 600 million dollars in U.S. and Canada, is still No. 1 money maker worldwide in the modern cinema history.

    The top 12 movies took in 75.2 million dollars collectively over the weekend, down 23 percent from the same weekend last year.