Snakes on the top of the charts

With the hype machine wound down and the tickets finally on sale, Snakes On A Plane opened at the US box office. And… well… didn’t exactly perform to the heights that the studio was hoping for. Still, it did manage to take in $15.3 million and ended up the top film for the weekend.

Pulling in second place – and still holding well for a comedy – Will Ferrell’s racing flick Talladega Nights drove over the $100 million mark, and added $14.1 million for a running total of $114.7 million.

Third place went to Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, which is doing hardly spectacular business, making $11 million this weekend and $45 million total so far.

In fourth, the college comedy Accepted arrived with a resounding thud. It took in $10 million, which put it just ahead of Step Up, the dancing teen drama down 51% in its second week. Holding up well in its third week was Barnyard, which grabbed more than $9 million and has a total of $45.9 million so far.

Smashing into the top ten in its first week of wider release was the Sundance hit Little Miss Sunshine. It’s been drawing rave reviews across the US and is well on its way to a healthy box office total. It has grabbed $12.7 million so far. Down at eighth was Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, still bringing in the bounty even after seven weeks on release. In fact, it’s just sailed past the $400 million mark in the States.

Ninth was the week’s third new opener, Material Girls, starring sisters Haylie and Hilary Duff. It arrived without fanfare and sadly without much of an impact, making just $4.6 million. Finally, at 10th sat Pulse, with the horror thriller sinking down the charts and making only $3.5 million for a $14 million total so far. Looks like people don’t care about ghosts that travel through the Internet…