Liza LaPira, Aaron Yoo, Kate Bosworth and Jim Sturgess star in 21 (2008).

Gambling paid off for Sony this weekend, as Robert Luketic’s 21 won big at the box office this weekend. The card-counting caper, based on Ben Mezrich’s bestselling book, Bringing Down the House, about a band of MIT students who take Vegas for millions, took in close to $24 million in its opening weekend. Horton Hears a Who continued its strong run, bringing in an impressive $17.4 million in its third weekend.

The only other new films to break the top 10 this weekend were Craig Mazin’s (Scary Movie 3 & 4) latest spoof, Superhero Movie, which earned an estimated $9.5 million, and Kimberly Peirce’s Iraq War drama Stop-Loss, which brought in just over $4.5 million.

Box office totals courtesy of The-Numbers.com.