'District 9' destroys competition at Friday box office

The badass marketing campaign and awesome reviews for "District 9" really worked, because Neill Blomkamp's excellent sci-fi thriller landed at the top spot at the North American box office Friday with an estimated $14.2 million. That's not a bad launch for the film.

Playing at 3,049 locations, "District 9" is set in a world where aliens are living as refugees on Earth in slump-like conditions. The Peter Jackson-produced action film doesn't have any big names attached to it, but glorious reviews and a lot of buzz gave it the necessary boost to storm the box office.

Also opening this weekend is Robert Schwentke's romance "The Time Traveler's Wife," which debuted at No. 2 Friday with a daily gross of $7.7 million. Starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, the film follows a man who involuntarily travels through time and tries to maintain a romantic relationship with a woman.

Meanwhile, Todd Graff's "Bandslam" delivered a disappointing performance, finishing at No. 13 with only $890,000, and this despite a run at 2,121 locations. Starring Vanessa Hudgens, the teen flick follows a loser who assembles a band just in time for an onstage music competition.

New entry "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" performed a tad better, collecting $2 million in sixth place. Buena Vista's animated release "Ponyo" finished at No. 9 with 1.1 million Friday. Still going strong was "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," which collected $7.1 million at No. 3.

Finally, "Nora Ephron's comedy "Julie & Julia" took home $3.6 million at No. 4, while Disney's "G-Force" grabbed $2.1 million in fifth place.I will leave you with a great suggestion: if you haven't seen "District 9" yet, make sure you don't miss it!

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