Max Payne Fires Way To Us Box Office Summit

20 October 2008

Picture: Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham Los Angeles Premiere 'Max Payne' held at the Mann's Grauman Chinese Theater Hollywood, California - 13.10.08

Max Payne Fires Way To Us Box Office Summit

Videogame adaptation Max Payne has topped the US box office charts after its opening weekend on release.

The action film, starring Mark Wahlberg, took a creditable $18 million (£10.2 million) to debut at the top of the charts.

John Moore's take on the award-winning videogame sees Wahlberg as the titular undercover cop, out for justice in New York after his wife and daughter are killed and he is framed for a crime he did not commit.

Last week's number one, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, fell to second, with period drama The Secret Life of Bees in at three and W, the new presidential biopic from Oliver Stone, opening in a disappointing fourth.

Industry experts said the underwhelming performance of W - which sees No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin as president George Bush - was unsurprising.

"For me, an Oliver Stone film about George Bush doesn't necessarily scream big box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, of Media By Numbers.

"A film like this is very tough to gauge, but this is exactly what I thought it would do."

W is released in the UK on November 7th, but screens in London this week as part of the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival.

The top ten films at the US box office are: (last week's position)

1 Max Payne (-)
2 Beverly Hills Chihuahua (1)
3 The Secret Life of Bees (-)
4 W (-)
5 Eagle Eye (4)
6 Body of Lies (3)
7 Quarantine (2)
8 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (5)
9 Sex Drive (-)
10 Nights in Rodanthe (7)

20/10/2008 11:39:45

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