''Treasure'' hunts down its box office rivals again

If this weekend’s top five films at the box office give you a sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone: Apart from a little shuffling of a few of the movies, it’s a carbon copy of last weekend.

Nicolas Cage’s thriller National Treasure made it three weekends in a row in the top spot, falling 47 percent from last weekend for another $17.1 million, bringing its total to a strong $110.3 million. At this rate, Treasure should surpass Cage’s other big hit, The Rock, which grossed $134 million, as Cage’s career best.

Christmas with the Kranks managed to rise one spot to No. 2, slipping 46 percent to $11.7 million, while The Polar Express also gained one ranking, falling 43 percent to $11 million. After a disappointing debut, the pricey film has held on nicely as more audiences seem to get into the holiday spirit: So far, Polar has earned $96.4 million.

The Incredibles took an unusually large post-Thanksgiving hit, plummeting 61 percent to $9.2 million. Despite the tumble, the Pixar smash has still grossed $226 million so far, good enough to enter the all-time top 50. And according to the studio estimates, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie barely edged out the new star-packed drama Closer for fifth place. SpongeBob fell 56 percent to $7.8 million, while Closer, playing in only 476 theaters, grossed a fantastic $16,176 per theater for an impressive weekend tally of $7.7 million, thanks to some decent reviews and the combined star power of Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman.

The news wasn’t so good for Oliver Stone’s Alexander, which had the biggest drop of the weekend, falling 66 percent to only $4.7 million in its second weekend. The epic film looks like it’ll end up with less than $40 million in domestic box office, or about one-quarter its reported $155 million budget. So much for being Alexander the Great.