Western-Star.com

'Tropic Thunder' retains No. 1 spot at box office

LOS ANGELES — "Tropic Thunder" defended its position at the top of the box office with $14.6 million in ticket sales over the long Labor Day weekend. Vin Diesel's sci-fi thriller, "Babylon A.D.," debuted in second place.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Media By Numbers LLC:

1. "Tropic Thunder," Paramount, $14,602,121, 3,473 locations, $4,204 average, $86,935,945, three weeks.

2. "Babylon A.D.," Fox, $11,541,571, 3,390 locations, $3,405 average, $11,541,571, one week.

3. "The Dark Knight," Warner Bros., $11,127,290, 2,750 locations, $4,046 average, $504,798,337, seven weeks.

4. "The House Bunny," Sony, $10,177,701, 2,714 locations, $3,750 average, $29,728,944, two weeks.

5. "Traitor," Overture Films, $10,006,327, 2,054 locations, $4,872 average, $11,507,654, one week.

6. "Death Race," Universal, $7,889,755, 2,537 locations, $3,110 average, $24,739,285, two weeks.

7. "Disaster Movie," Lionsgate, $6,945,535, 2,642 locations, $2,629 average, $6,945,535, one week.

8. "Mamma Mia!" Universal, $5,421,815, 1,968 locations, $2,755 average, $132,512,495, seven weeks.

9. "Pineapple Express," Sony, $4,448,782, 2,047 locations, $2,173 average, $80,832,163, four weeks.

10. "Star Wars: the Clone Wars," Warner Bros., $3,764,410, 2,444 locations, $1,540 average, $30,672,432, three weeks.

11. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," MGM, $3,525,970, 692 locations, $5,095 average, $13,309,881, three weeks.

12. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," Universal, $3,443,120, 1,713 locations, $2,010 average, $98,671,990, five weeks.

13. "Mirrors," Fox, $3,326,853, 1,820 locations, $1,828 average, $25,395,133, three weeks.

14. "The Longshots," MGM, $3,041,255, 2,089 locations, $1,456 average, $8,190,879, two weeks.

15. "College," MGM, $2,619,730, 2,123 locations, $1,234 average, $2,619,730, one week.

16. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Warner Bros., $2,415,283, 801 locations, $3,015 average, $95,194,543, eight weeks.

17. "Hamlet 2," Focus, $2,126,310, 1,597 locations, $1,331 average, $3,152,510, two weeks.

18. "Fly Me to the Moon," Summit, $2,050,645, 630 locations, $3,255 average, $6,783,708, three weeks.

19. "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," Warner Bros., $1,864,131, 1,252 locations, $1,489 average, $41,536,342, four weeks.

20. "Step Brothers," Sony, $1,668,902, 1,036 locations, $1,611 average, $98,237,639, six weeks.

___

On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com

___

Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

___