Jennifer Aniston finally gets box office 'Break'

Jennifer Aniston plays art dealer Brooke Meyers in The Break-Up.

LOS ANGELES - While her former husband is playing daddy in Namibia, Jennifer Aniston is basking in her new role as Hollywood's latest movie star.

Her new romantic comedy The Break-Up, co-starring real-life companion Vince Vaughn, stunned industry observers by taking the top spot at the North American box office with ticket sales of about US$38.1 million during its first three days, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The Universal Pictures release, which was savaged by critics, had been expected to open in the US$20 million ($32 million) range behind reigning champ X-Men: The Last Stand, which slipped to No. 2 with US$34.4 million in its second weekend.

Certainly, few observers were expecting it to break the former Friends star's mediocre run at the box office. Of her two wide releases last year, Derailed stalled at US$36 million, while Rumour Has It fell silent at US$43 million.

Still, she has some way to go to catch up with ex-husband Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the mother of his new baby girl. Their movie together, Mr and Mrs Smith, earned US$186 million last year.

Vaughn's last movie, Wedding Crashers, opened to US$33 million last year, and earned more than US$200 million, propelled by glowing reviews and strong word of mouth.

The Break-Up, a US$52 million project that Vaughn helped write, revolves around a couple whose relationship is on the rocks, but choose to stay together in their Chicago apartment. "What's a smart comedienne doing in such a dumb movie?" asked the Wall Street Journal.

The nation's female moviegoers begged to disagree, as women comprised 67 per cent of the audience, according to Universal. Exit polling also indicated that most viewers went because of the humour -- a reflection of how well Universal marketed the surprisingly dark movie.

There is humour in it, just not the saccharine type of humour you expect, said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at the General Electric-owned studio. People genuinely like Vince and Jennifer, and they like to be entertained.

The film is the first romantic comedy in the marketplace for a while, and actually ranks as the No. 3 opening of all time for films in this genre. Hitch (US$43.1 million) took the crown last year from 50 First Dates (US$40 million).

- REUTERS