Efron Schools Crowe, Affleck at Box Office

The "High School Musical" star's movie "17 Again" debuts at No.1

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood's newest heartthrob is barely out of high school.

Zac Efron's Warner Bros. comedy "17 Again" debuted as the top weekend movie with $24.1 million in ticket sales, beating out box-office heavyweights like Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck to take home the top spot.

Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck's Washington thriller "State of Play" came in second with $14.1 million, only slightly over half of what Efron's coming-of-age comedy raked in.

The No. 1 opening solidifies the big-screen potential for the star of Disney's "High School Musical" series.

It also shows that Efron's the top dog in the Disney chain - he knocked fellow Mickey Mouse alum Miley Cyrus' flick down to second place, beating "Hannah Montana: The Movie"'s tally by more than $10 million.

Cyrus' film slipped from first place to fourth with $12.7 million. That lifts the domestic total for Cyrus' movie spinoff of her Disney Channel show to $56.1 million after 10 days in theaters.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us