娱乐英语新闻:"Real Steel" retains top spot at North America box office

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A robot boxer has successfully beaten out three newcomers this weekend, as "Real Steel" dominates the box office derby for two weekends in a row, winning over droves of family audiences with its excellent word of mouth.

The robot-boxing movie will bag 16.3 million U.S. dollars in movie ticket sales in the United States and Canada this weekend, and is on track for a 51.7-million-dollar two-week total, according to preliminary statistics released by distributor Walt Disney Pictures. Owing to its good word of mouth and strong family appeal, the flick, starring Hugh Jackman in the lead role, also rakes in another 23.3 million from overseas markets for a global total of 108.3 million dollars.

"Footloose," a Paramount remake of a 1984 dance film of the same name, debuted in second place, garnering 16.1 million dollars from 3,549 locations.

The film, starring Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Andie MacDowell and Dennis Quaid, received an A CinemaScore grade, and mainly targeted woman and teenager audience. According to Paramount, 75 percent of its moviegoers were women, and 46 percent were 35 years or older, as this flick has touched off a nostalgic mood among elder fans. The film costs 24 million dollars.

"The Thing," a Universal prequel to John Carpenter's original 1982 film, opened in third place with 8.7 million dollars from 2, 996 venues. The sci-fi thriller features Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton in the title role, and deals with a team of Norwegian and American scientists who discover an alien buried deep in the ice of Antarctica, realizing too late that it is still alive, consuming and then imitating the team members.

The flick was directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen, a relatively new director who has only worked on less than four films. The film received a "B-" CinemaScore.

Rounding out the 10 most popular films in North America box office are "The Ides of March" (7.5 million dollars), "Dolphin Tale" (6.3 million dollars), "Moneyball" (5.5 million dollars), " 50/50" (4.3 million dollars), "Courageous" (3.4 million dollars), "The Big Year" (debuting with 3.3 million dollars) and "The Lion King 3-D" (2.7 million dollars).