The Help enjoyed a second week on top of the US box office against a backdrop of closed cinemas and drastically reduced takings thanks to the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene.
The Emma Stone-starring film took $14.3 million dollars across the weekend, pushing its overall total up to $96.4 million and comfortably blowing away the challenge from a trio of new releases.
Zoe Saldana’s Colombiana fared best of the chart’s new entrants, taking $10.3 million to claim second spot. Haunted house flick Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark limped into third place with a disappointing $8.6 million whilst Paul Rudd vehicle Our Idiot Brother only managed $6.5 million in fifth.
Sandwiched in between the latter pair is hardy campaigner Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes , whose $8.6 million weekend leaves the blockbuster tantalisingly close to the $150 million mark overall.
Further down the chart, Spy Kids 4 was down more than 50%, taking $5.7 million in sixth place. Even The Smurfs were feeling the pinch, adding just $4.8 million to its overall gross. Meanwhile, Conan took the biggest pounding, with a $3.1 million weekend representing a decrease of 69.1%!
Fright Night didn’t do much better, losing 60.7% of its audience to take $3 million down in ninth place. Crazy Stupid Love completes the countdown, with a $2.9 million weekend helping it to cling on to tenth spot.
