Source: xinhua

12-29-2008 13:51

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hollywood is enjoying a happy ending for 2008 as a slew of movies featuring A-list stars helped lure economically frustrated audiences into theaters during the Christmas holiday weekend.

Cast members Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson pose at the premiere of the movie "Marley & Me" at the Mann Village theatre in Westwood, California December 11, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 25. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"Marley and Me," a dog tale comedy from 20th Century Fox and starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, rocketed to the top of the box office in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in 51.7 million dollars over the four-day weekend, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.

The film also had the biggest Christmas Day opening in Hollywood's history with estimated ticket sales of 14.75 million dollars, surpassing the 10.22 million dollars grossed by the previous record holder "Ali" on Christmas day in 2001, said box office tracking firm Media By Numbers.

Paramount's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," a big-screen adaptation of the short story by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, was in second place with an estimated 39 million dollars over the same period. Brad Pitt and Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett appear in the film that tracks the fantasy life of a man born old and dying as a baby.