Teen heartthrob Zac Efron has taken the box-office crown from his Disney teammate Miley Cyrus, as 17 Again topped the ticket-sales chart for this weekend. The teen flick brought in a better than expected $24.1 million and sent last week's winner, Cyrus' Hannah Montana: The Movie, from first to fourth place with $12.7 million in earnings.
But Miley's fans can still claim that she's more popular: in its opening weekend Hannah Montana earned record-breaking revenue, making more than $36 million.
The No. 1 opening for the Warner Bros. movie, in which Zac plays the youthful version of a middle-aged man magically transformed to high school age, solidifies the big-screen potential for Efron, who rose to fame with Disney's High School Musical series.
"There's no question that Zac's a star," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. "He's such a hardworking, talented individual. He certainly has given his all to promote this movie."
The second place, surprisingly, was taken by Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck's Washington thriller State of Play, which racked up a better-than-expected $14.1 million. Crowe plays a reporter investigating a series of deaths linked to an old college friend (Affleck) who's now a rising star in Congress.
DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens placed third with $12.9 million and the fourth installment in the Fast and Furious film franchise came in fifth with $12.3 million.
Jason Statham had a weak opening for his action sequel Crank: High Voltage, which came in at No. 6 with $6.5 million, $4 million less than the first weekend for the 2006 original. The Lionsgate sequel features Statham in a race to recover his heart, which has been stolen by organ thieves and replaced with a mechanical one.
