Warner Bros’ sword and sandals remake Clash Of The Titans dominated the North American box office with an estimated $61.4m haul including Thursday night previews.

Sam Worthington, Mads Mikkelsen, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Gemma Arterton star in the film, which Louis Leterrier directed. The global tally has passed $105m as Clash grossed roughly $44.2m overseas.

The film debuted on approximately 6,500 screens of which roughly 1,810 or 28% were 3D screenings and accounted for roughly 52% of overall business. The result would appear to justify Warner Bros’ relatively late decision to convert Leterrier’s original 2D creation into 3D and capitalise on post-Avatar appetite for the format.

Way behind in second on $30.2m was the new comedy sequel Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?, stemming from Lionsgate’s lucrative relationship with Tyler Perry. DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon fell two places to third on a useful $29.2m for $92.3m after two weekends.

Buena Vista’s teen drama The Last Song starring Miley Cyrus opened in fourth place on $16.2m and has amassed $25.6m since it debuted last Thursday. Alice In Wonderland in firth has amassed $309.8m for Disney, and MGM’s comedy Hot Tub Time Machine fell three places to sixth on $27.8m after two weekends.

Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures’ release of the Oscar nominated shorts has grossed more than $1m after seven weekends. “The short film has gone from the occasional feature film accessory to the main theatrical event,” Carter Pilcher, chief executive of Shorts International, said. “Audiences for the Oscar nominated shorts jumped by 52% in the short space of a year and more than 1,000% in five years.”

Next weekend’s wide release is Fox’s comedy Date Night starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Estimated Top 10 North America April 2-4 2010

Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Clash Of The Titans (Warner Bros) WBPI $61.4m $64.1m

2 (-) Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? (Lionsgate) Lionsgate $30.2m –

3 (1) How To Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) PPI $29.2m $92.3m

4 (-) The Last Song (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $16.2m $25.6m

5 (2) Alice In Wonderland (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $8.3m $309.8m

6 (3) Hot Tub Time Machine (MGM) Lakeshore Int’l $8m $27.8m

7 (4) The Bounty Hunter (Sony) SPRI $6.2m $48.9m

8 (5) Diary Of A Wimpy Kid (Fox) Fox Int’l $5.5m $46.2m

9 (6) She’s Out Of My L eague (Paramount) PPI $1.463m $28.7m

10 (8) Shutter Island (Paramount) PPI $1.462 $123.4m

Topics