Box office fell for the third consecutive week as the Will Ferrell comedy Semi Pro, New Line's final release before it merges with Warner Bros, launched at number one on a lacklustre $15.3m.

This wasn't as good as openings for Ferrell's previous sporting spoofs- Blades Of Glory last year ($33m) and Talladega Nights in 2006 ($47m). Ferrell plays the owner of a basketball team in the film opposite Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin.

Overall box office for the top 12 titles grossed $81m, which represented a 25% drop from the same weekend last year.

Also opening was Sony's historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Ban which came in fourth place on $8.3m for a strong per screen average of $7,118 on just 1,166 screens.

Fantasy drama Penelope, originally slated as a release last year for IFC Films, finally opened in eighth on just over $4m through Summit Entertainment. Produced by Reese Witherspoon, Penelope stars Christina Ricci and James McAvoy and premiered in Toronto 2006.

The Oscar effect just about kept best Fox Searchlight's original screenplay winner Juno in the top 10, adding $3.4m for $135.1m in the 14th weekend, while the quadruple Oscar winner No Country For Old Men, released in North America through Miramax and overseas through PPI, bounced back into the top 10, climbing three places to number nine on $4m for $69.6m in the 17th weekend.

There Will Be Blood, winner of two Oscars for lead actor and cinematography and handled in North America by Paramount Vantage and overseas through WDSMPI, added $1.6m in the 10th weekend and ranks 15th on $37.6m.

Next weekend's wide releases are Roland Emmerich's epic 10,000 BC from Warner Bros, Buena Vista's comedy College Road Trip with Martin Lawrence; Focus' period comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day with Frances McDormand and Amy Adams and Lionsgate's thriller The Bank Job starring Jason Statham.

Estimated Top 10 North America Feb 29-Mar 2, 2007
Film (Dist)/Int'l dist/Est wkd gross/Est total to date
1 (-) Semi-Pro (New Line) NLI $15.2m -
2 (1) Vantage Point (Sony) SPRI $13m $41m
3 (2) The Spiderwick Chronicles (Paramount) PPI $8.8m $55.1m
4 (-) The Other Boleyn Girl (Sony) Focus Features International/UPI $8.3m -
5 (3) Jumper (Fox) Fox Int'l $7.6m $66.8m
6 (4) Step Up 2 The Streets (Buena Vista) Summit $5.7m $48.6m
7 (5) Fool's Gold (Warner Bros) WBPI $4.7m $59.1m
8 (-) Penelope (Summit Entertainment) Hyde Park International $4m -
9 (12) No Country For Old Men (Miramax) PPI $4m $69.6m
10 (8) Juno (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int'l $3.4m $135.1m

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