'Tropic Thunder' holds top spot at box office

The Hollywood spoof starring Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. pulled in $16.1 million, according to studio estimates, and has now rung up $65.7 million in its two-week run.

It became only the third film in a blockbuster-packed summer to stay on top for two weekends in a row, along with "Iron Man," which also starred Downey, and "The Dark Knight."

"We have a film that plays to a broad audience and one that perhaps bears repeat viewing," said Chip Sullivan, a DreamWorks spokesman.

Coming in second this weekend was Sony Pictures' "The House Bunny," which opened with $15.1 million, according to estimates. The comedy, penned by the pair behind the 2001 hit "Legally Blonde," Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, features flaxen-haired Anna Faris as a Playboy Mansion exile mothering and making over an entire sorority of social outcasts.

"It really played well to its core audience," said Rory Bruer, president of distribution for Sony, noting that half the audience was under age 21 and over two-thirds were women. "It's the only comedy for this demographic for the summer."

Other fare targeted to women didn't perform as well. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Dimension Films' "The Longshots," the PG-rated story of a young girl quarterback starring Ice Cube and directed by Limp Bizkit rap-rocker Fred Durst, opened to an estimated total of $4.3 million, below its expected draw of $7.4 million.

The combined star power of small-screen heroines Blake Lively and America Ferrera couldn't keep their feature film sequel "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" in the top 10. The Warner Bros. picture pulled $2.7 million in its third week.

Opening in third place this weekend with an estimated $12.3 million was Universal Pictures' testosterone-fueled "Death Race," a gritty R-rated remake of a 1975 film about car races with life-or-death stakes starring Jason Statham. The film's gross fell below expectations, but was consistent with opening totals for past Statham films such as "Transporter 2," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media by Numbers.

"Jason Statham has a following," he said. "This is in line with how his movies do. It's an intriguing film."