By Franck Tabouring
Weekend of August 29 – 31, 2008

“Tropic Thunder” ruled the North American box office for the third consecutive weekend with $11.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Ben Stiller’s R-rated action comedy easily protected its No. 1 spot from this week’s four new releases, lifting its domestic total to $83.8 million. Released by DreamWorks, the film centers on a group of actors as they fight for survival in a dangerous jungle.

Debuting in second place with only $9.7 million was 20th Century Fox’s science-fiction adventure “Babylon A.D.,” which stars Vin Diesel as a mercenary who escorts a young woman (Mélanie Thierry) from Mongolia to New York City.

Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s summer hit “The Dark Knight” climbed back up to No. 3, earning $8.7 million and reaching a total gross of an impressive $502.4 million after seven weeks in release. Two weeks ago, the “Batman Begins” sequel passed “Star Wars” to take the second spot on the all-time box office list behind “Titanic.”

At No. 4, Fred Wolf’s comedy “The House Bunny” collected $8.3 million. Starring Anna Faris as a former Playboy bunny who becomes the housemother of a geeky sorority, the film lifted its cumulative gross to $27.8 million after a two-week run.

New entry “Traitor” opened in fifth place this weekend, pulling in $7.9 million in ticket sales. Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce, the thriller has reached a domestic total of $9.4 million since its Wednesday release.

Following at No. 6 was Paul W.S. Anderson’s action flick “Death Race,” which brought its total gross to $23 million thanks to this weekend’s earnings of $6.2 million. Based on 1975’s “Death Race 2000,” the film stars Jason Statham as a prisoner who’s forced to take part in a deadly car race.  

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s spoof comedy “Disaster Movie,” this week’s third major release, debuted in seventh place with $6.1 million. That’s about $12.4 million less than the opening weekend gross of their previous escapade, “Meet the Spartans.”

Staying put at No. 8 was Universal’s successful musical “Mamma Mia!,” which took home another $4.4 million to reach a domestic total of $131.5 million after a strong seven-week run. “Pineapple Express" followed closely in ninth place, earning $3.3 million and lifting its cumulative to $79.7 million after four weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 was Woody Allen’s comedy “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which finished with a weekend gross of $3 million and a total haul of $12.7 million.

And just in case you were wondering, new release “College” only made it to No. 15 despite a release in more than 2,000 theaters. In the end, Deb Hagan’s teen comedy only pulled $2.1 million.

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