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Los Angeles - Surprise summer hit The Help retained the No 1 spot at movie theatre box offices on Sunday, beating back three newcomers and appearing to be headed for victory over a long US holiday weekend.
Movie studio estimates showed the civil rights-era story about the racial divide between white women in Mississippi and the black women who worked for them had taken in $14.2m over three days ending on Sunday and appeared headed toward $18m by Monday, the US Labour Day holiday.
The movie, backed by DreamWorks and released by the film division of The Walt Disney Co, topped No 2 film, spy thriller The Debt, which collected $9.7m through Sunday and was poised for an $11.6m haul by Monday, according to industry watcher Hollywood.com Box Office.
The Debt, a newcomer to theatres from Focus Features, raked in an average of $5 300 per theatre from 1 800 venues through Sunday. It is expected to have sold $14m worth of tickets in domestic - US and Canadian - theaters by the time the holiday ends on Monday.
Surprised
Taking the No 3 spot was another new movie, space alien mystery Apollo 18, which purports to use "found footage" of an ill-fated trip to the moon to tell its otherworldly tale. It had taken in $8.7m, or $2 600 per venue, for the three days ending on Sunday. A Monday forecast was not available for the movie released by privately held Weinstein Co.
Close behind was the weekend's third new release, another thriller, Shark Night 3D. It was seen collecting $8.6m through Sunday and adding $1.9m on Monday, to end at $10.5m, according to its studio, closely held Relativity Media. For the three days ending on Sunday, its average was estimated at $3 000 per venue.
Rounding out the top five was holdover sci-fi flick Rise of the Planet of the Apes, from 20th Century Fox, with $7.8m in its fifth week in theatres. Like The Help, its strong performance - $160m overall and still climbing - has surprised box office watchers.
The Help, in its fourth week, is expected to see its total domestic ticket sales reach $122m by the time the long holiday weekend ends in the United States on Monday.
