Friday saw a 21% increase in box office revenue over the previous Friday.

Friday saw a number of new films enter the market place, with a few solid starts but nothing remarkable to report.

In number one this Friday is the new Nicolas Cage thriller, KNOWING, which debuted with an estimated $8.9M on Friday. The Alex Proyas directed disaster movie will have a decent opening weekend but word of mouth may slow this one down very soon; critics savaged it, and the general public were at best luke warm to the film.

I LOVE YOU, MAN opened on Friday in second spot to an estimated $6.3M. The R-rated comedy was very well received by audiences and critics alike. This will probably still end up in second spot at the end of the weekend but if the critical drubbing of KNOWING affects its box office, I LOVE YOU, MAN might have a shot at number one.

Third spot is reserved for the star-powered DUPLICITY. The Julia Roberts-Clive Owen starrer earned an estimated $4.7M on Friday which would probably be considered a disappointment given Roberts' previous career highlights. The convoluted twists and turns of the plot which make for an intellectual (but unengaging) experience may have not made much of an impression on the public either, despite some positive remarks by critics.

RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN descends from its pole position of last Friday to fourth spot with an estimated $3.8M. The Disney remake managed to lose only 43% of its audience this time out which has to be considered a win given its lacklustre reception.

The fanboy graphic novel adaptation WATCHMEN continues to drop, this time to fifth spot with an estimated $2M on Friday. The film has earned $93M domestically as it crawls its way slowly towards $100M. Recouping its $150M budget back at the domestic box office is impossible now.

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT which debuted in second position last Friday tumbles to sixth spot this Friday with an estimated $1.9M. This will likely disappear out of the Top 10 by next Friday.

After defying all expectations and patterns of box office behaviour, TAKEN finally fell to seventh spot this Friday as the glut of new films entered the market place. The Liam Neeson action flick earned an estimated $1.3M, still only losing 33% of its audience from last Friday but the drop is still significant enough to show that its phenomenal run at the box office may be coming to an end.

The remaining films in the Top 10 are: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ($0.8M), TYLER PERRY'S MADEA GOES TO JAIL ($0.79M), and CORALINE ($0.6M).

The North American box office took in an estimated total of $31.4 million for the whole of Friday 20th March 2009.