For the second time this year, ticket sales prove that the public is more into football histories rather than into noir-ish stories about a young starlet's death. At least, that's what studios' preliminary analysis of this weekend box-office clearly indicate.

'Gridiron Gang', starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, came in at number one, surpassing Brian De Palma's latest drama, 'The Black Dahlia'. The Sony 'Gridiron' thus became Johnson's fifth movie to become number one, although estimates show that it will be, by far, his less brilliant. The movie grossed in a measly $15 million and many specialists believe that it won't get to see its second week at number one.

But the biggest disappointment this weekend was De Palma's much anticipated release of 'The Black Dahlia'. With a cast made up of the biggest young stars in Hollywood (Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson) and with a budget of well over the $80 million limit, the drama revolving around the brutal murder of a Hollywood starlet cashed in only $10.4 million.

'Hollywoodland', that got the Golden Lion for best actor (Ben Affleck) at the Venice Film Festival, came in at number 9, dropping seven places, with $2.7 million this weekend, making a total of $10.5 million since it was released. Skeptics state that the same will happen with the 'Dahlia', as theater-goers are interested in these kinds of movies only if they're in Hollywood.

The computer animated 'Everyone's Hero' came in third, while Zach Braff's long due 'Last Kiss' did not touch the softer side of the public as the actor hoped it would, grossing $4.7 million in its opening weekend. Another surprise this weekend came with the fall of 'The Covenant' from the top of the box-office, where it was last week, to the number five position, with ticket sales of $4.6 million. Since its release, the supernatural flick 'The Covenant' cashed in a total of $15.7 million.

The rest of the box-office hits are: Mark Wahlberg's 'Invincible' (number 6), Edward Norton's 'The Illusionist' (number 7), 'Little Miss Sunshine' (8), 'Hollywoodland' (9) and Jason Statham's 'Cranck' at the bottom. All in all, a disappointing week, with a total of $75 million in receipts, almost an insignificant sum compared to previous opening weekends.