'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' remained on top of the box office standings for a third consecutive weekend, taking in an estimated gross of $20.45 million in the third weekend since its release. Domestically, the fourth 'Potter' film has now taken in $229.8 million.
Second place belonged to the only significant new release of the weekend, 'Aeon Flux,' starring Charlize Theron. The science-fiction film took in $13.1 million despite not being screened for critics prior to its release. When a studio decides not to pre-screen films for critics it is usually due to a fear of overwhelmingly poor reviews.
'Walk the Line,' the biopic about singers Johnny and June Carter Cash finished in third place this weekend with $10 million in estimated grosses. 'Walk the Line' had held down the second spot at the box office in the previous two weekends since its release.
'Yours, Mine & Ours,' a film about a blended family, finished in fourth with $8.4 million followed by 'Just Friends' which grossed $5.9 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were 'Pride and Prejudice,' 'Rent,' 'Chicken Little,' 'Derailed' and 'In the Mix.'
Overall, the top 12 films took in roughly the same total that the top 12 grossing films took in a year ago this weekend. Hollywood is hopefully that December will be a month full of blockbusters and high movie attendance. Among the films studios are counting on to fill the seats at theaters are 'King Kong,' 'The Producers,' 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and the new Steven Spielberg film 'Munich' which deals with the aftermath of the murder of the Israeli Olympic team by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympic games.
