'Eagle Eye' easily leads Friday box office

D.J. Caruso's new action spectacle "Eagle Eye" topped the North American box office Friday with an estimated $9.8 million in ticket sales, according to numbers released by Box Office Mojo.

The Shia LaBeouf vehicle had the widest release this weekend, opening in 3,510 theaters. Also starring Michelle Monaghan and Billy Bob Thornton, the film will easily win the three-day box office race.

Following in second place with $4.8 million was George C. Wolfe's romance "Nights in Rodanthe," which is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel and stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane as two unhappy adults falling in love at a beachside inn. The film hit 2,700 theaters Friday.

And here is a small surprise: Alex Kendrick's Christian-themed drama "Fireproof" secured the third spot Friday, collecting $2.3 million at 839 locations.

Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna," however, only made it to No. 9 with an estimated $985,000. The weekend's other wide release, "Choke," finished 13th with only $460,000.

We'll see how all this plays out tomorrow when we received the weekend estimates. Stay tuned folks and check out "Eagle Eye" if you haven't had the chance yet.

'Choke' web reviews

If you're fan of Chuck Palahniuk, I'm sure you're quick excited about the release of Clark Gregg's big-screen adaptation of "Choke," which stars Sam Rockwell as man who pays for his mom’s hospital bills by pretending to choke on food in top-notch restaurants. You can read our review here. Let's briefly look at what some other online critics have to say about this:

• Josh Tyler at Cinema Blend: "'Choke' sets out from frame one to stake a claim as the most vile, seedy, morally bankrupt movie of the year. It succeeds, and it’s all the better for it."

• Cinematical's Erik Davis: "While I'm a huge fan of Palahniuk, his books and especially "Choke," there's only one reason why I would recommend you check out this film, and one reason only: Sam Rockwell."

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Review: "Choke"

Seen on: September 15, 2008

The players: Director: Clark Gregg, Writer: Clark Gregg, Cast: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald, Brad Henke, Joel Grey

Facts of interest: "Choke" is based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, author of "Fight Club."

The plot: It's the story of a man who pays for his mom’s hospital bills by pretending to choke on food in top-notch restaurants.

Our thoughts: I wonder if Sam Rockwell has a clause in his contract that stipulates that he will only work if he is typecast as a neurotic bungler... let's just say that this may have been the first time Rockwell played a character who walks around for 30 minutes with a derelict anal bead in his rectum, but it doesn't feel like the first time I've seen him do that.

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