http://movies.yahoo.com/news/va/2002...938992500.html

James Bond back on top at U.S. box office
Sunday December 8 3:25 PM ET


Agent 007 returned to the No. 1 spot at the North American box office over the weekend, while the new comedy sequel "Analyze That" suffered major shrinkage, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

On the traditionally slow weekend that follows the Thanksgiving Day holiday, ticket sales slumped to their lowest level in 12 weeks. But business could pick up next weekend when four new releases enter the fray.

This weekend, top honors went to "Die Another Day," the 20th official movie in the James Bond franchise, which sold about $13 million worth of tickets in the Friday-to-Sunday period, hoisting its three-week total to $120.4 million.

'EMPIRE' IMPRESSIVE

The top 10 contained one other new release, the John Leguizamo ( news) crime thriller "Empire," which opened at No. 4 with $6.3 million -- an impressive number given that it played in just 867 theaters, vs. 3,347 for "Die Another Day" and 2,635 for "Analyze That." "Empire," which cost under $5 million to make, marks the first release of Arenas Entertainment, a Universal Pictures banner targeting the Latino community.

The animated flop "Treasure Planet" fell one place to No. 5 in its second weekend with $5.7 million. The movie, which reportedly cost about $140 million to make, has earned $23.8 million to date. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures, whose Walt Disney Co. parent last week cut reported earnings for fiscal 2002 due to the film's failure.

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