Clooney's Ocean Rides Box-Office Wave

By Stephen M. Silverman

Originally posted Monday December 13, 2004 08:30 AM EST

George Clooney Photo by: JEN LOWERY / LFI

Ocean's Twelve – with George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Catherine Zeta-Jones – hit the weekend box office like a tidal wave, wiping out the three-week chart-topper National Treasure, which slipped to third place.

To date, Treasure, a heist hit starring Nicolas Cage, has made $124.2 million, according to studio estimates.

Blade: Trinity, the third in Wesley Snipes's vampire series, came in at No. 2, though its numbers were anemic compared to those for Blade II, which opened to $32.5 million (double what this one made) and was the No. 1 movie in March 2002.

In limited release, the quirky The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, starring Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, opened strongly, taking in $114,000 at just two theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. The film expands on Christmas Day.

The weekend's Top 10, according to studio estimates, are as follows:

1. Ocean's Twelve,$40.9 million
2. Blade: Trinity, $16.1 million
3. National Treasure, $10 million
4. The Polar Express, $9.8 million
5. Christmas with the Kranks,$7.6 million
6. The Incredibles,$5.05 million
7. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, $4.4 million
8. Closer, $3.75 million
9. Finding Neverland, $1.7 million
10. Alexander, $1.4 million