娱乐英语新闻:Ben Affleck rules North America box office with "The Town"

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Oscar-winning director/actor Ben Affleck has won the box office derby over the weekend when his new movie "The Town" poised to sell an estimated 23.8 million dollars in ticket sales, outperforming three other debuts of the weekend.

The Warner Bros. coppers-and-robbers movie, a follow-up to the 20.3 million dollar-grossing "Gone Baby Gone" (2007), in which Affleck directs and stars, debuted on approximately 3,500 screens at 2,861 locations. The second movie that Affleck directed, "The Town" is about a bank robber who juggles romantic feelings for a bank manager and a scary-looking disguise consisting of a nun's habit and ghoulish mask.

"Easy A," a first vehicle for Emma Stone who stars with "Gossip Girls" Penn Badgley, coasted to a number two spot on its opening weekend, with 18.2 million dollars in estimated sales for the Sony/Screen Gems release.Modeled after teen comedy "Mean Girls," the movie concerns a girl's effort to gain attention at school by pretending to be easy.

A poster of "The Town."

"Devil" from Universal was third, with an opening weekend take projected at 12.6 million dollars. The latest sci-fi effort to bear the name of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, whose last title include "The Last Airbender," the horror film tells the story of a group of people trapped in a high-rise elevator on their way to work.

Rounding out the top 10 movies are:

-- No.4: "Resident Evil: Afterlife," Sony/Screen Gems, 10.1 million dollars this weekend, 44 million dollars over two weeks;

-- No.5: "Alpha and Omega," a 3-D animation from Lionsgate, debuting with 9.2 million dollars this weekend;

-- No.6: "Takers," Sony/Screen Gems, 3 million dollars this weekend, 52.3 million dollars over four weeks;

-- No.7: "The American," Focus Features, 2.8 million dollars this weekend, 32.9 million dollars over three weeks;

-- No.8: "Inception," Warner Bros., 2 million dollars this weekend, 285.2 million dollars over 10 weeks;

-- No.9: "The Other Guys," Sony/Columbia, 2 million dollars this weekend, 115.4 million dollars over seven weeks;

-- No.10: "Machete," Fox, 1.7 million dollars this weekend, 77.7 million dollars over six weeks.