'Black Hawk Down' tops Box-office!

LOS ANGELES (Movie.com) - Ridley Scott's depiction of a failed 1993 U.S. mission in Somalia was in first place in movie theaters over the weekend, bringing in $29 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. With American troops fighting overseas, audiences at home flocked to the intensely realistic military drama "Black Hawk Down.''

"Black Hawk Down'' expanded into wide release after playing in New York and Los Angeles for three weeks, recording the best Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend opening ever. The film, based on journalist Mark Bowden's book of the same name, recasts a military mission that left 18 American soldiers dead as a tale of unlikely heroes. It recounts the operation to capture two top lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission went wrong and turned into a fierce 17-hour battle in the streets of Mogadishu between besieged U.S. soldiers and Somali fighters. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner and Jason Issacs. Overall since its release the movie has made $30.8 million.

Opening in second place over the weekend was "Snow Dogs,'' a comedy starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as a Miami dentist who inherits a pesky team of snow dogs in Alaska. It took in $17.5 million.

Also this weekend, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' passed "Independence Day'' to become the ninth highest-grossing film of all time, with $308.7 million domestic grosses, Dergarabedian said. "Harry Potter'' was in 12th place over the weekend with $2.5 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Black Hawk Down,'' $29 million.
2. "Snow Dogs,'' $17.5 million.
3. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' $13 million.
4. "A Beautiful Mind,'' $11 million.
5. "Orange County,'' $9 million.
6. "Ocean's Eleven,'' $5.7 million.
7. "The Royal Tenenbaums,'' $4.3 million.
8. "Kate & Leopold,'' $3.4 million.
9. "Gosford Park,'' $3.3 million.
10. "Vanilla Sky,'' $3.1 million.