娱乐英语新闻:"This Is It" tops North America box office thanks to capitalizing on fans loyalty

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The widely-expected documentary depicting the late pop icon Michael Jackson who was busy rehearsing for the planned London concert has made a giant leap in North America box office this weekend, grossing an estimated 21.3 million dollars and rose atop the placings, it was announced Sunday.

    "This Is It," a feature-length documentary that was made by Sony/Columbia at a cost of 60 million dollars, garnered a total of32.5 million dollars in theaters at home and abroad since Wednesday when it opened simultaneously around the globe, the North America box office authorities said.

    A music-and-dance-filled collection of clips from more than 100hours of the megastar's rehearsals at Staples Center will be a huge moneymaker for its producers and distributors, earning 101 million dollars in worldwide sales so far.

    Buoyed up by the good reception from the public, Sony said it had extended the film's theatrical run for three additional weeks domestically and one to three weeks in overseas territories.

    However, its weekend domestic take was nearly eclipsed by "Paranormal Activity," a micro-budgeted supernatural horror movie made by Paramount Pictures in its sixth week of release.

    The film will earn 16.5 million dollars this weekend, putting it at the second place. The story, shot for reported 15,000 dollars and within one week, will have grossed 84.8 million dollars in the United States and Canada by the end of the weekend The per-theater average take for "Paranormal Activity" was greater than for the highly-hyped Jackson flick. It is likely to achieve 100 million dollars mark in domestic ticket sales.

    Overture Films' crime thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" ranked third, with a projected 7.3 million dollars in weekend sales, and a three-week haul of 51.4 million dollars.

    Rounding out the top five are:

    "Couples Retreat," Universal, 6 million dollars this weekend, 86.7 million dollars over four weeks; "Saw VI," Lionsgate, 5.6 million dollars this weekend and 22.8 million dollars over two weeks, a fall of 61 percent from its opening grosses.