Zac Efron turns ‘17 Again’ into No. 1 hit

updated 5:22 p.m. ET April 19, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Zac Efron has taken the box-office crown from his Disney teammate Miley Cyrus.

Efron's comedy "17 Again," in which he plays the youthful version of a middle-aged man magically transformed to high school age, debuted as the top weekend movie with $24.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The No. 1 opening for the Warner Bros. movie 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."

Universal had the No. 2 movie with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck's Washington thriller "State of Play," which pulled in $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.

Cyrus' "Hannah Montana: The Movie" slipped from first place to fourth with $12.7 million. That lifted the domestic total for Cyrus' movie spinoff of her Disney Channel show to $56.1 million after 10 days in theaters.

"Hannah Montana" finished just behind DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens," which took in $12.9 million to raise its domestic haul to $162.7 million. Estimates for "Hannah Montana" and "Monsters vs. Aliens" were close enough that the movies could switch rankings when final numbers are reported Monday.

Jason Statham had a so-so 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.

Hollywood maintained a record box-office pace with just one weekend to go before the busy summer season arrives May 1 with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Hugh Jackman's spinoff of the blockbuster "X-Men" franchise.

Box office results Estimated ticket sales for Dec. 4-6 1. “The Blind Side,” $20.4 million. 2. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $15.7 million. 3. “Brothers,” $9.7 million. 4. “Disney’s a Christmas Carol,” $7.5 million. 5. “Old Dogs,” $6.9 million. 6. “Armored” (tie), $6.6 million. 6. “2012” (tie), $6.6 million. 8. “Ninja Assassin,” $5 million. 9. “Planet 51,” $4.3 million. 10. “Everybody’s Fine,” $4 million.

Overall revenues were at $112 million, up nearly 20 percent from the same weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

For the year, Media By Numbers is tracking receipts at $2.92 billion, 17.3 percent ahead of 2008's and well above the box-office pace of 2007, when Hollywood took in a record $9.7 billion. Accounting for higher ticket prices, movie attendance this year is up 15.6 percent compared to last year's.

The movie business is poised to top $10 billion at the box office for the first time in 2009, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"It's going to be a record year, because we've never had a start to a year this strong," Dergarabedian said. "Unless the world goes off its axis and spins into the sun, I don't see how we're not going to have a $10 billion year."

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