What many have described as an Akira Kurosawa rip-off, Peter Travis' assassination thriller, "Vantage Point," took over the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America.

Contrary to expectations, the Oscar telecast among potential moviegoers didn't weaken this weekend's grosses that much. In fact, Sony's political thriller "Vantage Point" took in an estimated $24 million for first place in 3,149 theaters, averaging roughly $7,600 per site.

With a star-studded cast, including Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox and Sigourney Weaver, "Vantage Point" unravels an assassination attempt and explosion in a crowded Spanish square.

Unlike its Japanese inspiration, "Vantage Point" does not pose questions and does not provide us with doubt; we watch the 23 minutes of the president’s death eight times, each time through another character’s eyes, including those of a Secret Service man (Quaid), the U.S. President (William Hurt), a sharp-eyed tourist (Forest Whitaker) armed with a camcorder, and some of the terrorists responsible.

"The overall box office was down because it's Oscar weekend, and your average movie fan wants to be home in front of their TV watching the Oscars,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, in an interview. "Sony was smart in putting out a summer-style, popcorn movie this weekend, and they were effective with their advertising.''

The studio said "Vantage Point" appealed to a broad audience — 52 percent of moviegoers were male and half were under age 30.

"It's fresh with lots of twists and turns. Audiences become very invested in it," said Rory Bruer, Sony president of distribution.

Three other new films debuted this weekend, but weren't as popular among moviegoers: comedies "Be Kind Rewind" which landed at No. 7 with $4.1 million, a tie with "Juno," "Witless Protection" at No. 13 and "Charlie Bartlett" at No. 14.

The previous two box office-topping movies, "Jumper" and "Fool's Gold" maintained top spots. "Jumper" starring Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson and Rachel Bilson, and directed by no one other than Doug Liman, known for directing red-hot "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," slipped on the second spot with $12.7 million, raising its domestic total to $56.2 million in two weeks.

Paramount's family fantasy "The Spiderwick Chronicles" was a close third with $12.6 million while Disney's dance saga "Step Up 2 The Streets" and Warner Bros.' romantic comedy "Fool's Gold" rounded out the top five.

Rounding out the top 10 were "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins,'' the Martin Lawrence comedy from General Electric's Universal, which earned $3.9 million for ninth place, and "There Will Be Blood,'' from Viacom's Paramount, which was 10th with $2.6 million.