'Angels & Demons' leads Friday b.o. with $16.5M

Ron Howard's "Angels & Demons" soared to the top of the North American box office Friday with an estimated $16.5 million in ticket sales. That's $12.1 million less than the opening day gross of its predecessor "The Da Vinci Code."

In "Demons," Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon, who heads to the Vatican to solve a murder and help prevent a ruthless terrorist attack. Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård and Ayelet Zurer co-star.

Last week's box office champion "Star Trek" slipped to No. 2 Friday, scoring another $11.8 million. The J.J. Abrams-directed reboot of the sci-fi franchise reached a total of $116.4 million after only one week in release.

At No. 3, Gavin Hood's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" collected $4.2 million, lifting its domestic gross to $140.5 million. Following in fourth place was Mark Waters' comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," which brought in $2.1 million and reached a cume of $35.3 million.

Meanwhile, Beyonce Knowles' thriller "Obsessed" took home $1.4 million, bringing its total haul to $59.4 million. In the film, she takes up with Ali Larter, who plays a temp stalking her beloved husband.

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