The pair of new arrivals dominated the domestic scene and the ultimate winner will be determined on Monday when the studios issue final results. Meanwhile Deathly Hallows: Part 2 crossed $1bn globally and became the biggest in the franchise at the North American box office, not to mention international and worldwide, too.

Cowboys & Aliens, released through Universal domestically and through Paramount outside the US, pits the Wild West against extra-terrestrials and stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.

The Smurfs from Sony revives the children’s franchises and mixes animation with live action. Neil Patrick Harris stars as a human.

Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avenger passed $100m in its second weekend through Paramount while Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows crossed $1bn worldwide and overtook The Sorcerer’s Stone from 2001 to become the biggest release of the franchise in North America on $318.5m after three weekends.

Warner Bros’ comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love. Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Julianne Moore launched in fifth place on $19.3m.

Joe Cornish’s SXSW hit and UK sci-fi Attack The Block opened outside the top 25 through Screen Gems on $130,000 from eight theatres. Lionsgate launched Sundance hit The Devil’s Double starring Dominic Cooper on $95,000 from five.

Three other Sundance entries debuted. SPC opened The Guard on $80,400 from four, while Miranda July’s The Future grossed $28,200 in a single theatre through Roadside Attractions and Life In A Day took $45,500 from 11 through National Geographic Entertainment.

Next weekend’s wide releases are Fox’s action sci-fi Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes starring James Franco and Universal’s comedy The Change-Up with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jul 29-31, 2011
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Cowboys & Aliens (Universal) PPI $36.2m –

2 (-) The Smurfs (Sony) SPRI $36.2m –

3 (1) Captain America: The First Avenger (Paramount/Marvel) PPI $24.9m $116.8m

4 (2) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Warner Bros) WBPI $21.9m $318.5m

5 (-) Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Warner Bros) WBPI $19.3m –

6 (3) Friends With Benefits (Screen Gems) SPRI $9.3m $38.2m

7 (5) Horrible Bosses (Warner Bros/New Line) WBPI $7.1m $96.2m

8 (4) Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (Paramount) PPI $5.9m $337.9m

9 (6) Zookeeper (Sony/MGM) SPRI $4.2m $68.7m

10 (7) Cars 2 (Buena Vista/Pixar) WDSMPI $2.3m $182.1m

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