LOS
ANGELES, July 29 (Xinhua) -- "The Simpsons Movie" took in 71.9 million dollars
this weekend in North America as the big-screen version of the most popular
cartoon series in the United States debuted in theaters after its TV premiere 18
years ago, according to box office figures released here Sunday.
Homer Simpson may not be able to understand why
people would buy movie tickets for something they get for free on television,
but America's favorite father and his family were by far the most-popular movie
in the United States and Canada over the weekend.
Meanwhile, distributor 20th Century Fox said the film
also opened strongly in about 70 overseas markets, with the international tally
at about 96 million dollars.
"The Simpsons Movie" easily topped last week's box
office leader, Universal's comedy "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," which
sold 19 million dollars worth of tickets in its second weekend in release.
The latest Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and The
Order of the Phoenix," was estimated to sell 17 million dollars this weekend,
bringing its North American box office sales total to 242million dollars. Its
worldwide box office revenues have nearly reached the 600 million-dollar mark
since its release two weeks ago.
New Line Cinema musical "Hairspray" was No. 4 at the
box office with 15.6 million dollars this weekend, while Warner Bros.' new
release "No Reservations," a romantic comedy starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as a
gourmet chef, earned 11.8 million dollars at No. 5.
The better-than-expected box office performance of
"The Simpsons Movie" helped boost Hollywood's box office take this week, as the
12 top-selling films grossed 168.6 million dollars, representing a staggering 45
percent jump from that in the same period last year.
