LOS ANGELES, Jan 2 (AFP) - Family caper "Meet the Fockers" maintained its parental control over the US box office during the New Year weekend, holding the number one spot with 42.8 million dollars in ticket sales, according to preliminary figures released Sunday.
The film -- starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand -- has now raked in about 163.4 million dollars in two weeks, according to box office trackers Exhibitor Relations, Inc.
The Universal/Dreamworks comedy is the sequel to the 2000 hit "Meet the Parents" and tells of the comic first meeting between two sets of new in-laws.
"Lemony Snicket`s A Series Of Unfortunate Events," starring Jim Carrey, held on to second place in the North American box office top ten, with weekend ticket sales totalling 14.7 million dollars.
Martin Scorsese`s Howard Hughes biopic "The Aviator" moved up one notch to occupy third place on ticket sales of 11.2 million.
Cartoon-turned-live comedy action "Fat Albert" fell from third to fourth spot with sales of 10.7 million while the all-star crime movie "Ocean`s Twelve" held fifth place with ticket receipts of 9.2 million.
Final figures for the weekend`s box office top ten are due out Monday.
01/02/2005 20:14 GMT - AFP