Rise of the Silver Surfer Tops Weekend Box-Office

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer overcame lukewarm reviews and the bad reputation of the first Fantastic Four last weekend and ousted "Ocean's Thirteen" from the top spot at the box-office. (The numbers from last weekend were as follows: "Rise of the Silver Surfer," $57.4 million; "Ocean's Thirteen," $19.1 million; "Knocked Up," $14.3 million; "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $12 million; "Surf's Up," $9.3 million).

The greater appeal of the sequel, which managed to surpass the opening weekend earnings of its predecessor, can probably be attributed to the character of the Silver Surfer "played" by Doug Jones (who also "played" Pan in Pan's Labyrinth) and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. In other box-office news, however, "Shrek the Third" and "At World's End" have each raked up $297 and $273 million, respectively. Respectable earnings, to be sure, but each movie is expected to end up about 25% short of the total earnings of their respective predecessors.