Football drama "Gridiron Gang" scored a touchdown at the North American box office, while the thriller "The Black Dahlia" withered, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The film, starring former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, earned $15 million during its first three days, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday. It was the second football movie in three weeks to take the top spot.

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Overall ticket sales were up from last weekend's three-year low, but still puny amid fall's traditional slowdown. Moviegoer apathy and critical opprobrium hit director Brian De Palma's "Black Dahlia," which opened at No. 2 with $10.4 million. Its distributor, Universal Pictures, had hoped for an opening in the mid-teens.

Even worse were the fates that befell the baseball cartoon "Everyone's Hero," No. 3 with $6.2 million, and the romantic drama "The Last Kiss," No. 4 with $4.7 million. Last weekend's champion, the supernatural thriller "The Covenant," also reported $4.7 million. "Black Dahlia," starring Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johannson, was inspired by the unsolved 1947 murder of an aspiring actress whose bisected body was discovered in Los Angeles. It cost about $60 million to make.

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Mark Wahlberg Feels Invincible

Invincible, the feel good football movie starring Mark Wahlberg topped the box office this past weekend with an estimated weekend take of $17,029,000. In second place was Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which has now made a total of $127,684,000 so far in the U.S.

In third place is Little Miss Sunshine, with an estimated take of $7,500,000, which brings its total take to date $23,024,000, which is excellent considering the small budget and limited release. Warner Bros.' Beerfest glugged in at fourth with $6,500,000, and Accepted came in fifth with $6,476,000 in its second week.

Universal's Idlewild came in eighth with a disappointing estimated take of $5,892,000.

Posted on August 28, 2006
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