Box Office: 'Couples Retreat' easily wins the race

Weekend of October 9 – 11, 2009: 'Couples Retreat' wins; 'Paranormal Activity' delivers!

Universal’s comedy “Couples Retreat” safely landed at the top of the North American box office this weekend with a solid $35.3 million in ticket sales at 3,000 locations, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Starring Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Jason Bateman, the film follows four couples traveling to a prestigious tropical island resort where they’re forced to partake in numerous couple therapy sessions.

Also breaking into the top 10 this weekend was “Paranormal Activity,” which expanded to 159 locations and took the No. 5 spot with a superb $7 million. The film’s early total gross currently stands at $8.2 million.

Last week’s winner “Zombieland” slipped to No. 2, pulling $15 million for a domestic total of $47.8 million. Following closely in third place with $12 million was “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," which brought its cume to $96.2 million.

Meanwhile, Disney’s “Toy Story / Toy Story 2” double feature in 3D collected $7.6 million at No. 4, bringing its cumulative gross to $22.6 million. The film’s limited theatrical run is scheduled to end next week.

At No. 6, Bruce Willis’ sci-fi action flick “Surrogates” picked up $4.1 million for a total gross of $32.5 million. Following in seventh place with $3.3 million was Ricky Gervais’ “The Invention of Lying,” which lifted its total haul to $12.3 million.

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It” reached a domestic total of $8.7 million after weekend earnings of $2.8 million at No. 8, while Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” bagged $2.7 million for a total of $9 million.

Rounding out the top 10 this weekend was MGM’s remake of “Fame,” which finished with a three-day gross of $2.5 million for a cume of $20 million.

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