娱乐英语新闻:Michael Douglas reprise rules North America box office

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- A sequel to the Academy Award- winning drama dealing with financial machinations in Wall Street, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," was new king of the box office derby with 18 million U.S. dollars in estimated movie tickets sales, the North America box office authority said on Sunday.

The 20th Century Fox release, starring Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, a greedy baron who is still hunting for a way back into the "game" after serving eight years in prison for his bad trading habits, debuted on about 5,100 screens at 3,565 locations.

Although 23 years have passed since the original "Wall Street" hit the screen, Best Actor recipient Douglas still fared well with his brilliant portrayal of the Wall Street veteran. The drama film is also the only sequel that director Oliver Stone has ever done to any of his films.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"

The movie has received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes, which consists of reviews from film critics from newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, gave the drama an overall approval rating of 54 percent, based on a sample of 32 reviews.

The general consensus is that the sequel is more entertaining than many others, but with Stone directing, a terrific cast, and a timely storyline that picks up where the original left off, "'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' should be better."

Warner Bros.' 3-D animated feature "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoolie" opened in second place, projected to sell 16.3 million dollars in receipts. A family film based on the popular book series by Australian novelist Kathryn Lasky, the film was shown on 5,300 screens at 3,575 locations, including a record 2,479 venues presenting the movie in the 3-D illusion.

And third place went to "The Town," another Warner Bros. release, with an estimated 16 million this weekend and a two-week running total of about 49.1 million dollars. "Easy A," from Sony/ Screen Gems, was fourth, taking in 10.7 million dollars this weekend and 32.8 million dollars over two weeks.

Disney's ensemble comedy "You Again," the week's third release that made its premiere at the movie theaters in Canada and the United States, was in fifth place, fetching 8.3 million dollars. Featuring an extremely versatile and talented cast including Sigourney Weaver and Betty White, the film turned out to be a forced and nearly laugh-free disappointment.