'Juno' comes in third at box office
(AP) - The film written by a former Minneapolis City Pages blogger has come in third at the box office this weekend.
"Juno," Diablo Cody's comedy about a pregnant 16-year-old who looks for a couple to adopt her child, brought in $16.2 million this weekend.
It came behind Disney's "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and Will Smith's sci-fi smash "I Am Legend."
Featuring Ellen Page as the whip-smart pregnant teen, "Juno" has grabbed critical praise and is building momentum as Hollywood's awards season progresses.
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"It's the coolest little success story coming out of 2007," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "It's playing like a mini-blockbuster right now."
The film has three nominations for Sunday's Golden Globes, including one for best screenplay.
With $52 million already in the bank, "Juno" is on its way to becoming Fox Searchlight's biggest hit ever, approaching "Little Miss Sunshine" at $59.9 million and "Sideways" at $71.5 million.
"Juno" started off in larger cities but now has caught fire in smaller towns such as Columbus, Ohio, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Peter Rice, Fox Searchlight president.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
