'The Grudge' holds box office top spot for second week with $21.8 million

Horror film "The Grudge" led North American box office results for a second consecutive weekend, earning $21.8 million over the Halloween period, according to final figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. The Takashi Shimizu-directed feature, which stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, has now collected $70.6 million in total.

Close behind in second place was "Ray," a biographical film about soul legend Ray Charles, which opened to $20 million. Jamie Foxx plays the blind musician, who died in June at 73, and has drawn significant awards-season attention for the performance.

Thriller "Saw" debuted in third with $18.2 million, while animated comedy "Shark Tale" placed fourth at $7.5 million. The romantic comedy "Shall We Dance?," an American remake of a Japanese film, finished fifth with $6.2 million.

The remaining top 10 included "Friday Night Lights" ($4 million), "Ladder 49" ($3.2 million), "Team America: World Police" ($3 million), "Surviving Christmas" ($2.4 million), and "Taxi" ($2.1 million). Combined receipts for the 12 highest-grossing films reached $92.3 million, up about 2.3 percent from the same Halloween weekend in 2003.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in November 2004, in its own words.