Now here’s something you don’t see every weekend – a near total dead heat between two brand new films of hugely varying genres. And while the final figures could tell a very different story from the studio estimates that arrive across the weekend, it looks like genre mash-up Cowboys & Aliens has arrived neck and neck with kiddie pic The Smurfs.
Yes, the Jon Favreau-directed, Harrison Ford/Daniel Craig-starring pic that finds Western tropes blended with sci-fi action arrived with $36.2 million this weekend, with The Smurfs launching to the same figure. Wonder which one will win out in the end – or whether the final result will have them staying in place?
Captain America: The First Avenger naturally dropped to third, with a 67% loss of business but still a decent $24.9 million in its second week. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 took fourth with $21.9 million (still, after passing the $1 bn mark worldwide, they're still doing OK) and new Steve Carell comedy drama Crazy, Stupid, Love launched in fifth, making a decent $19.3 million.
Friends with Benefits sank to sixth with $9.3 million, while Horrible Bosses was down to seventh on $7.1 million. **Transformers: Dark of the Moo****n **dropped four places to eighth and earned $5.9 million, with Zookeeper ninth ($4.2 million) and **Cars 2 **in 10th position ($2.3 million).
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