Action film 'Immortals' reigns at box office

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The gods of ancient Greece have extended their rule to the weekend box office with a No. 1 debut for the action tale "Immortals."

The story of Greek hero Theseus took in $32 million domestically, while Adam Sandler's comedy "Jack and Jill" opened at No. 2 with $26 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The new movies bumped the animated hit "Puss in Boots" to the No. 3 spot after two weekends at the top. "Puss in Boots" earned $25.5 million, raising its domestic total to $108.8 million.

Director Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar," a film biography starring Leonardo DiCaprio as longtime FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, played in narrower release and opened at No. 5 with $11.5 million.

Released by Relativity Media, "Immortals" stars Henry Cavill and Freida Pinto in a tale of human heroes battling an evil king (Mickey Rourke) who aims to bring down the Olympian gods.

With males making up 60 percent of its audience, "Immortals" has a chance to corner much of the action market through Thanksgiving weekend and beyond, a period likely to be dominated by family movies such as "Happy Feet 2," ''The Muppets," ''Hugo" and "Arthur Christmas."

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" does open Friday, but that blockbuster action fantasy franchise mainly draws female crowds, typically a smaller segment of the action audience.

"There's really not another action movie until you approach the Christmas holidays," said Kyle Davies, head of distribution for Relativity. "Over the next few weeks, there's no real competition for us."

"Immortals" added $36 million in 35 overseas markets, bringing its worldwide total to $68 million.

Sandler plays dual roles in "Jack and Jill," portraying a sturdy family man and his needy sister, who comes to visit for Thanksgiving.

"Jack and Jill" got off to a solid start but came in on the low end for Sandler, whose comedies typically open in the $30 million to $40 million range. Still, it continues Sandler's virtually unbroken string of strong openings for his broad comedies dating back to the late 1990s.

"J. Edgar" played in 1,910 theaters, compared with more than 3,000 for the rest of the top-five movies. It was the weekend's grown-up choice, with 66 percent of viewers over age 50, according to distributor Warner Bros.

The variety clicked with audiences this weekend. Overall revenues came in at $137 million, up 13 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Megamind" led with $29.1 million, according to Hollywood.com.

NEW YORK (AP) - Chelsea Clinton began work at NBC News on Monday, the second daughter of a former president at the network.

NBC said it had hired the 31-year-old Clinton to work on projects for "NBC Nightly News" and Brian Williams' newsmagazine, "Rock Center." She will report stories for the feel-good "Making a Difference" series.

The only child of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pursuing a doctorate at Oxford and working for the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative.

Former President George W. Bush's daughter Jenna Bush Hager does stories for the "Today" show.

NBC said Chelsea Clinton wasn't available for an interview, but issued a statement: "People who imagine and implement solutions to challenges in their own lives, in their communities, in our country and in our world have always inspired me."

Recent "Making a Difference" stories highlighted a 7-year-old boy raising money for a friend with cancer by racing go-karts, a marathon runner raising money for his mother who suffers from Parkinson's disease and rock star Bon Jovi opening a restaurant where people who cannot pay for meals can do volunteer work to earn food.

Besides Clinton and Hager, NBC News also has just hired Meghan McCain, author of "Dirty Sexy Politics" and daughter of 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain. She will be an analyst for MSNBC.