U.S Box Office for Weekend August 18-20

With an estimated $15.3 million in ticket receipts, "Snakes on a Plane" opened as the weekend's top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters. It beats "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" which dropped to second place after two weeks in first with $14.1 million.

Being hot topics on Internet discussions among moviegoers which helps its debut to reach the leading position of this weekend chart, this action thriller flick which directed by David Ellis, has Samuel L. Jackson playing an FBI agent who is escorting a witness on a flight from Hawaii to LA when an assassin releases hundreds of deadly snakes on a commercial airplane in order to eliminate the witness.

Completing this weekend chart, "World Trade Center", Oliver Stones' film about true story of the heroic survival and rescue of two Port Authority policemen on Sept 11 attack stayed in third place with $10.8 million. Then, at 4th place was a new release movie, "Accepted", starring Justin Long with $10.1 million.

"Step Up" fell from 2nd place last week to fifth place with $9.87 million then followed by "Barnyard" with $7.49 million and "Little Miss Sunshine", which rose from its 12th place last week to seventh with $5.68 million.

Walt Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" starring Johnny Depp, dropped to eighth from sixth with $5 million in receipts. The film became the seventh ever to top $400 million in U.S. sales, Exhibitor Relations said.

Closing the Top 10 chart are "Material Girls" at the 9th place with $4.62 million and Weinsten Co.'s "Pulse" at the 10th with $3.53 million.