LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Romantic comedy "New Year's Eve" topped the domestic movie box office during the weekend but Hollywood had little to celebrate as North American ticket sales slumped to their lowest level in three years.

"New Year's Eve" led the charts with a disappointing $13.7 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters on Sunday. The movie added $12.9 million from international markets, for a combined global debut of $26.6 million, distributor Warner Bros. said.

New adult comedy "The Sitter," starring Jonah Hill as a reluctant babysitter, finished second with an estimated $10 million domestically from Friday through Sunday. The newest "Twilight" vampire romance movie, winner of the past three weekends, slipped to third place with $7.9 million.

Overall ticket sales in the United States and Canada came in weak, down nearly 16 percent from the same weekend a year ago at $77.4 million, according to Hollywood.com Box Office. That ranked as the lowest weekend total since September 2008 and followed a sluggish performance a week ago.

"This has been a very tough two weeks at the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box Office, who blamed the decline on a lack of male-oriented films.

Studios are hoping to turn that around in the coming weeks by cramming several big-budget action movies into theaters around Christmas. They include "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

For this weekend, "New Year's Eve" failed to reach studio projections of at least $17 million domestically.

Even so, "we did well in a very miserable weekend," said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. The studio hopes the holiday theme will appeal in the coming weeks, he said.

'BREAKING DAWN' TOPS $600 MLN

"New Year's Eve" follows a series of intertwining stories centered around the traditional ball drop in New York's Times Square. It features an all-star lineup including Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Ashton Kutcher, Hilary Swank, Sofia Vergara, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lea Michele and Jon Bon Jovi.

The movie tanked with critics, with only 6 percent giving a positive review on aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were more positive and rated the movie a B+ on average, according to exit polling firm CinemaScore.

For "The Sitter," studio 20th Century Fox said ticket sales reached its pre-release expectations. "Given the softness in the marketplace, I think we did well," said Chris Aronson, the studio's senior vice president for domestic distribution.

While no longer on top of domestic charts, vampires and werewolves still drew fans around the world to the fourth "Twilight" movie. Global sales for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1" reached $633.5 million since its debut.

A revival of "The Muppets" brought in $7.1 million domestically over the weekend, landing Kermit and his puppet friends in fourth place. The film has grossed $71.6 million worldwide through three weekends in theaters.

"Arthur Christmas," a 3D animated family film that explains how Santa delivers presents around the world in one night, landed if fifth place with $6.6 million. The movie has generated $91 million worldwide to date.

"New Year's Eve" was produced by New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros., the studio that distributed the film. News Corp's 20th Century Fox studio released "The Sitter." Privately held Summit Entertainment released "Breaking Dawn."

"The Muppets" was released by Walt Disney Co, and Sony distributed "Arthur Christmas."

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Andy Whitfield, the former star of TV show "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," died on Sunday of lymphoma in Sydney, Australia, at age 39, his representatives said.
Whitfield played the indomitable hero Spartacus in the Starz network show when it launched last year.
The actor, whose other credits included the 2010 film "The Clinic" and the 2007 movie "Gabriel," had to step away from his role on "Spartacus" due to his illness, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
"On a beautiful sunny Sydney ... morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18-month battle with lymphoma cancer," Vashti Whitfield, his wife, said in a statement.
Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht said he was "deeply saddened" by Whitfield's loss.
"We were fortunate to have worked with Andy in 'Spartacus' and came to know that the man who played a champion on-screen was also a champion in his own life," Albrecht said in a statement. "Andy was an inspiration to all of us as he faced this very personal battle with courage, strength and grace."
Whitfield was born in Wales and later moved to Australia. Due to his illness, he was replaced on "Spartacus" by Australian actor Liam McIntyre.

Bangladeshis priced out of Messi football match

Football fans in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, have reacted in fury over ticket prices set at a minimum of $100 to see superstar Lionel Messi lead out Argentina in a friendly.

The stylish South Americans, who have had a massive following in Bangladesh since the 1980s, will play in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday evening against Nigeria.

But only half of the tickets have so far been sold for the game -- the biggest football match in the country's history -- with many fans unable to afford the entry price.

Passion for the beautiful game runs deep in Bangladesh despite the national team's lowly ranking of 139 in the world and the long-standing dominance of cricket.

During the football World Cup last year, the country was covered in Argentinian and Brazilian flags as raucous fans adopted one or other side and supported them with ferocious loyalty.

Messi's scheduled arrival on Monday from India, where Argentina beat Venezuela in another friendly on Friday, is likely to trigger huge excitement in the nation of 150 million people.

But minimum ticket prices of 7,500 taka (100 dollars) and the expense of Eid celebrations last week marking the end of Ramadan could leave rows of empty seats at the 24,000-capacity Bangabandhu National Stadium.

"It's a ridiculous price. They don't want real soccer fans to watch Messi's match. I earn just 8,000 taka per month. How can I afford a ticket?" Rajib Ahmed, 25, a chemical tester at a private company, told AFP outside the ground.

"I saved some money and bought a ticket for Monday's practice session. It costs 1,000 taka, which is still too much. I just want to see Messi in action. He is the best player on earth."

Like many Bangladeshis, Rajib's love of Argentina is rooted in the team's glorious past.

"Our family has been supporting the side since the heyday of (Diego) Maradona," he said. "We would have bought tickets for the match had they lowered the price to perhaps 2,000 taka."

Ahead of 2014 World Cup qualifiers starting next month, Argentina -- under new coach Alejandro Sabella -- are on a two-match tour of India and Bangladesh to boost interest in the game in South Asia.

Their 1-0 win over Venezuela in Kolkata on Friday was played in front of nearly 80,000 cheering fans, with comprehensive coverage by Indian television stations and newspapers.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) says it has spent four million dollars bringing Wednesday's match to Dhaka in the hope it would raise the sport's profile and inspire young people.

"If you want to see Messi play, there is some cost," head of BFF's match organising committee Anwarul Haq Helal told AFP on Sunday. "We have sold only 50 percent of the tickets at the moment. We did not expect this.

"It's the biggest soccer match in Bangladesh's history. We are still hopeful all tickets will be sold just before the match. I am confident once Messi arrives here, things will change.

"After Eid celebrations is not a good time for people to be spending money, and many went back to their home villages for Eid and have not yet returned to Dhaka," he added.

Bangladesh was gripped by football fever during the 2010 World Cup -- though Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

When power cuts hit television coverage during several matches, fans were so angry that riots erupted, electricity stations were attacked, and the government ordered factories to stop work to avoid further blackouts.

Bangladeshi fans may even struggle to see Wednesday's game on television after broadcaster ESPN was reportedly unable to strike a deal with organisers.

The FIFA-sanctioned match will now be shown on a small satellite channel which many locals do not receive.

"I very much wanted to go to the match, but I had to give up hope," Daud Hossain, 55, told AFP.

"Instead I've just bought two tickets for the practice session for my son and niece. The organisers are just ripping money out of our pockets to fill up their coffers."

Domestic sides from England, Germany and elsewhere are increasingly keen to tap into their Asian support base, with the region's young population and growing economies seen as offering huge potential.

Bangladesh, where more than 30 percent of people live below the poverty line, has itself enjoyed recent economic growth but has been off the radar for overseas teams focused on wealthier nations such as Japan and China.

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WIMBLEDON, England -- Seven years after winning Wimbledon as a 17-year-old, Maria Sharapova is back in the final, this time as a three-time Grand Slam winner and heavy favorite.

Petra Kvitova is preparing for her first Grand Slam final. The 21-year-old Czech might be dreaming of a debut like Sharapova's, who overpowered Serena Williams, 6-1, 6-4, in 2004 to make her mark as a future superstar of the game.

The gap between Wimbledon finals might surprise some, but Sharapova was sidelined by a shoulder injury and had surgery in 2008. She has slowly made her way back to the final week of a Grand Slam.

"That's the way it goes," Sharapova said Friday. "You obviously hope that you can be in the final stages every single year, but I guess it's just not meant to happen. This is the year I'm supposed to be back in the final. I don't know why."

Since 2004, Sharapova has added the 2006 U.S. Open and the 2008 Australian Open titles. But shoulder surgery in October 2008 took her off the singles court for nearly 10 months and required a change in her servicemotion.The match today against Kvitova will be her first Grand Slam final since 2008. It is these moments that Sharapova visualized while

nursing her shoulder back to health.

"I had time to reflect on my career and things that I've achieved," Sharapova said. "But I think I was always looking towards the future

more than anything than in the past, because that's where I was trying to envision myself at some point to be getting back out there."

Kvitova said Friday her parents are flying over from Prostejov to watch her attempt to become the first Czech woman to win Wimbledon since Jana Novotna in 1998.

"I'm not nervous," she said. "I'm looking forward to (today), for sure."