Alexander fails to conquer box office

ALEXANDER the Great may have conquered millions in his march across the Persian Empire 2,400 years ago but moviegoers in North America easily repelled his advances over the weekend.

Alexander, director Oliver Stone's three-hour epic starring Irishman Colin Farrell as the youthful Macedonian warrior, opened at No 6 with ticket sales of just $13.5 million for the three days beginning Friday.

Since opening on Wednesday to get a jump-start on the US Thanksgiving holiday, the film has earned $21.6m from theatres in the United States and Canada short of the $25m hoped for by the film's financier, Intermedia Films.

"Overall it's solid, but it could have been better,"

Intermedia Chairman and CEO Moritz Borman told Reuters. He cited such negative factors as its lengthy running time and mixed reviews.

Warner Bros Pictures, a unit of Time Warner, said it paid $35m for North American rights from Intermedia, a unit of Munich-based IM International-media AG.

The film, a dream project of Stone's for 15 years, cost about $150m to make, said Borman. He predicted it would do better overseas, just as the early summer epic Troy did, and he noted that Alexander did well in Canada.

The film also stars Jared Leto as Alexander's special boyhood chum, Rosario Dawson as his sex-starved wife, Angelina Jolie as his nagging mother and Val Kilmer as his abusive father.

Nicolas Cage's action-adventure National Treasure was No 1 for a second weekend with $33.1m, followed by the animated superhero saga "The Incredibles" with $24.1m.