'Fast & Furious' speeds to box office pole

Car chase movie "Fast & Furious" left its box office rivals for dust at the weekend, speeding to pole position in North American theaters on its debut, final figures showed Monday.

Starring Vin Diesel, the car-centered action flick netted a whopping 71 million dollars, placing it at number 28 on the list of top openers of all time, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Scooping 47.6 percent of total weekend earnings, "Fast & Furious" is the fourth in a series of the revved-up franchise.

It beat out "Monsters and Aliens" which slipped to number two with 32.6 million dollars after debuting at number one last week with its tale of a ragtag group of monsters who are ordered to help battle invading aliens and save the world from destruction.

In third place, taking in 9.5 million dollars, was "The Haunting in Connecticut," a thriller about a family terrorized by supernatural forces in their charming new home which had once been a funeral parlor.

"Knowing," a time-travel drama starring Nicolas Cage, came in fourth with 8.1 million dollars, totaling 58.2 million dollars in its third week.

The buddy film "I Love You, Man" which features Paul Rudd as a groom who is desperate to make male friends ahead of his wedding, came in fifth, dropping one spot from last week but still pocketing 7.7 million dollars.

The comedy tale "Adventureland," about a recent graduate who, to his surprise, finds the perfect job at a fairground, opened in sixth place with 5.7 million dollars.

The Julia Roberts spy tale "Duplicity" took in 4.2 million dollars for seventh place, while Disney adventure "Race to Witch Mountain" trailed in eighth with 3.2 million dollars.

Fox's action thriller "12 Rounds" earned 2.3 million in its second week, just enough to take the ninth spot.

"Sunshine Cleaning," in which sisters pair up to start a crime scene cleaning service, rounded out the top 10 with 1.8 million dollars in its fourth weekend, for a total of 4.7 million.