New York - The animated film version of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf debuted at the top of the North American box office this weekend with 28.1-million-dollars in ticket sales.
The movie, which was also released in a 3-dimensional version, was directed by Robert Zemeckis and made using the same motion-capture technology that combines animation with live action like his 2004 offering, The Polar Express. Beowulf features the voices of Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins.
Forty per cent of Beowulf's sales came from 740 3-D-capable theatres out of a total of 3,153 venues where it was shown, Rob Moore, the Paramount Pictures studio's president of worldwide marketing and distribution, told the Los Angeles Times.
Beowulf knocked another animated offering, Bee Movie, out of first place. The movie featuring the voice of Jerry Seinfeld fell to second with 14.3-million-dollars in sales in the United States and Canada from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates released Sunday.
Another film in its third weekend of release was in third: American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, at 13.2 million dollars, followed by the Christmas comedy Fred Claus in fourth with 12 million dollars.
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium with Dustin Hoffman debuted in fifth with 10 million dollars in sales.
Rounding out the top 10 were Dan in Real Life at 4.5 million, No Country for Old Men with 3.1 million, Lions for Lambs at 2.9 million, Saw IV with 2.3 million and Love in the Time of Cholera, 1.9 million.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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