Zac Efron is Sitting Pretty With 17 Again

17 Again was number one this weekend with an estimated $24.1 million, making this Zac Efron’s third weekend-winning movie in a row (both High School Musical 3: Senior Year and Hairspray claimed the top spot in their opening weeks). As the movie’s biggest name (Matthew Perry, you’re past your prime), Efron proved himself worthy of the above-the-title status for the first movie he’s had to carry, angling out movie stars Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe’s for the top spot.

Affleck and Crowe’s State of Play, a political thriller about a reporter investigating the murder of a congressman’s mistress, opened in second place with $14.1 million. Monsters Vs. Aliens took the third spot with $12.9 million, bringing its four-week total to $162.7 million. Last week’s box office winner, Hannah Montana The Movie, lost 60 percent of its audience falling to fourth place with $12.6 million, and coming in fifth was Fast and Furious with $12.2 million, bringing its three-week total gross to $136.7 million.

In other new releases, the Jason Statham-starring Crank: High Voltage, a sequel in the Chev-Chelios-will-never-die franchise, finished in sixth place with a disappointing $6.5 million. And Every Little Step, a buzzy documentary about Broadway-bound hopefuls, opened in eight theaters and averaged a $9,075 per-screen average for a $72,600 weekend.

Next week, Beyonce will try to dethrone her fellow singer/actor Efron from the top spot with Obsessed, a psychological thriller about a female stalker (“Heroes'” Ali Larter) trying to take over our heroine’s life. Earth will try to become the new March of the Penguins with their nature-based doc and Channing Tatum will try to prove himself the ultimate tough guy with Fighting, a movie about, you guessed it, fighting.