By Franck Tabouring

Weekend of June 27 – 29, 2008

Pixar Animation’s “WALL-E” stormed to the top of the North American box office this weekend with $62.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimated Friday.

The computer-generated adventure, which centers on a little robot who falls in love with a probe droid from space, tied with “Monsters, Inc.” to deliver the third biggest opening for a Pixar film. The record is held by “The Incredibles” with an opening of $70.4 million, followed by “Finding Nemo” with $70.2 million.

Debuting in second place with an impressive $51.1 million was Timur Bekmambetov’s R-rated action thriller “Wanted,” which opened above studio expectations. Starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, the film follows a nobody who discovers new meaning in his boring life when he’s asked to join a fraternity of assassins.   

Last week’s box office champion “Get Smart” slipped to No. 3 this weekend, collecting $20 million and reaching a domestic total of $77.2 million after two weeks in release. The Peter Segal-directed action comedy stars Steve Carell as a clumsy agent who must battle the forces of KAOS, an organization seeking world dominance.

At No. 4, DreamWorks Animation’s family adventure “Kung Fu Panda” pulled in $11.7 million from ticket sales at 3,670 locations. Paramount’s film about a panda who’s struggling to learn the basics of kung fu lifted its cumulative gross to $179.3 million after a strong four-week run.

Louis Leterrier’s action hit “The Incredible Hulk” dropped to fifth place, earning $9.2 million and brining its total haul to $115.5 million. Based on the popular Marvel comics, the film follows Edward Norton as a scientist who transforms into a green giant when he’s consumed by his anger.

Meanwhile, Paramount’s comedy “The Love Guru” tumbled to sixth place with a weekend gross of $5.4 million and a cumulative of only $25.3 million after two weeks in release. Marco Schnabel’s film starring Mike Myers opened below studio expectations last week after being torn apart by the nation’s top critics.

Following closely in seventh place was Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which took home $5 million and brought its domestic total to $299.9 million after six weeks in release. At No. 8, M. Night Shyamalan’s mystery thriller “The Happening” earned $3.8 million, reaching a total haul of $59 million after a three-week run.

Two films rounded out the top 10: New Line Cinema’s chick flick “Sex and the City” with $3.7 million ($140.1 million cumulative), and "You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” with $3.2 million ($91.2 million total gross).

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)