By Franck Tabouring

Weekend of July 11 – 13, 2008

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” topped the North American box office this weekend with $35.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Guillermo del Toro’s delivered a better performance than its predecessor “Hellboy,” which took home only $23.1 million during its opening weekend in 2004. In this second adventure, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) must stop a ruthless prince from waging war on humanity.

Last week’s box office champ “Hancock” dropped to No. 2 this weekend, earning $33 million and bringing its total domestic gross to $165 million after only two weeks in release. Directed by Peter Berg, the film stars Will Smith as a drunken superhero who agrees to rebuild his damaged image in the community.

Debuting in third place with $20.5 million was Eric Brevig’s 3-D family adventure “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Starring Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson, the movie follows a scientist and his nephew as they discover a secret world around the core of the Earth.

Meanwhile, Pixar’s “WALL-E” slipped to No. 4, pulling $18.5 million from ticket sales at 3,849 locations. Andrew Stanton’s computer-animated tale of a robot who falls for a probe droid lifted its cumulative gross to $162.7 million after only three weeks in release.

At No. 5, Timur Bekmambetov’s action hit “Wanted” took home $11.5 million, reaching a total haul of $112 million after a strong three-week run. Starring James McAvoy, the flick centers on a nobody whose life takes a drastic turn when he joins a fraternity of assassins.
 
Peter Segal’s spy comedy “Get Smart” tumbled to sixth place this weekend, bringing in $7.1 million after reaching a domestic total of $111.4 million after four weeks in release. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Steve Carell as a clumsy secret agent struggling to save the world.

New entry “Meet Dave” opened in seventh place this weekend with $5.3 million from ticket sales at 3,011 locations. Directed by Brian Robbins and released by 20th Century Fox, the family comedy stars Eddie Murphy as a humanoid alien who travels to Earth to seek a way to save his own planet.

Following closely at No. 8 was DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda,” which earned $4.3 million this weekend and brought its cumulative to $202 million after six weeks in release. The family adventure directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson follows a lazy panda (voiced by Jack Black) on his quest to learn the basics of kung fu.

Two films rounded out the top 10 this weekend: Picturehouse’s family drama “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” at No. 9 with $2.3 million, and Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” at No. 10 with $2.2 million.

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