Proving that even a chunk of the Shrek franchise – in this case, a spin-off featuring the films’ favourite feline hero – can succeed, **Puss In Boots **topped the US box office charts this weekend according to studio estimates. Though its opening was relatively weak compared to the ogre’s usual performances (likely due to a freak cold snap on the East Coast, baseball and other factors), the film still managed to take first with $34 million.
Paranormal Activity 3 was down from its opening weekend, but an $18.5 million second week wasn’t exactly horrific for Paramount, especially given the franchise’s traditionally thrifty price tag. Expect the announcement about a fourth entry shortly.
Andrew Niccol’s run of dodgy luck at the box office shows no sign of abating, though, as his new sci-fi action thriller In Time launched in third with $12 million. The Footloose remake was fourth with $5.4 million, while Johnny Depp’s Hunter S Thompson passion project **The Rum Diary **could only muster a fifth-place start, earning a meagre $5 million.
Real Steel continued to do decent, if unspectacular business in sixth place, and Paul WS Anderson’s take on The Three Musketeers began to sink like a stone, landing in seventh with $3.5 million (they’ll be glad the worldwide returns are a lot healthier).
In eighth place was The Ides Of March with $2.7 million, just ahead of Moneyball with $2.4 million. At 10th we find Courageous, which earned $1.8 million on its fifth week of release.
To get catty with the full results, head on over to Box Office.