Rush Hour speeds ahead

''Rush Hour''speeds ahead at North American box office LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - ``Rush Hour'', a comedy cop caper starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, defied all expectations when it opened at the top of the North American box office with $31 million, according to studio estimates issued Sunday. |

The film's three-day total sets a new record for a September opening, surpassing the $18.9 million tally for ``The First Wives Club'' in 1996, said a spokesman for New Line Cinema, which released ``Rush Hour''. It is also the highest opening in New Line's history, beating ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', which debuted with $25.4 million in 1990.
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Industry sources had expected the picture to open in the high teens, or just maybe in the low $20 million area. In the end, the film's potent combination of Asian superstar Chan and rising black comic Tucker as mismatched cops in Los Angeles pulled in sell-out audiences spanning all the demographics, the New Line spokesman said.
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Opening far behind in second was the tear-jerker film ``One True Thing'', starring Meryl Streep as a terminally ill housewife. The Universal Pictures release earned $6.6 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.
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Twentieth Century Fox's ``There's Something About Mary'' slipped a notch to third with $5.95 million, bringing the 68-day total for the gross-out comedy to $147.5 million.
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New Line is owned by Time Warner Inc. (TWX - news) Universal is owned by Seagram Co Ltd. Fox is owned by News Corp.

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