'Couples Retreat' lands at top of box office Friday

New release "Couples Retreat" easily topped the North American box office Friday with a solid $12.3 million in ticket sales at 3,000 locations. That's a nice start for the comedy starring Vince Vaughn.

Also starring Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis, the film follows four couples who travel to a presitigious tropical island resort where they're forced to partake in a series of therapy sessions.

Delivering the most surprising result Friday was Paramount's horror hit "Paranormal Activity," which bagged an incredible $2.5 million from ticket sales at only 159 locations, enough for the No. 4 spot.

"Activity" was requested through Paramount's Demand program and sold out showings everywhere across the nation. The utterly scary film follows a couple experiencing mysterious events in their new home.

Meanwhile, Ruben Fleischer's horror comedy "Zombieland" pulled another $4.7 million in second place, bringing its domestic gross to $37.5 million after only one week in release.

Following at No. 3 was "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," which took home $3.1 million for a total haul of $87.3 million. The "Toy Story / Toy Story 2" 3D double feature picked up $2 million in fifth place.

All I can say at this point is that "Activity" will certainly hit a wider release in the coming weeks. The performance the low-budget film has delivered so far is quite simply sensational.

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