'Social Network' fast-friends box-office success

"The Social Network," Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher's take on the rise of Internet titan Facebook, topped the weekend box office in North America, preliminary industry data showed on Sunday.

The film, starring newcomer Jesse Eisenberg and pop star Justin Timberlake, scored big in its first weekend out with 23 million dollars.

"Legend of the Guardians," an animated owl drama, surged to second place, earning 10.85 million, followed by "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in the third-place spot.

Director Oliver Stone's sequel to his 1987 hit "Wall Street" sees Michael Douglas reprising his role as investment shark Gordon Gekko, famous for saying that "greed is good." The movie co-starring Josh Brolin and Shia LaBeouf earned 10.1 million dollars.

In fourth place was "The Town," Ben Affleck's fast-paced bank heist flick set in his hometown of Boston. The movie earned 10 million dollars.

Teen comedy "Easy A" about a high school girl who lies about losing her virginity to improve her social standing, trailed in fifth place netting 7.0 million.

"You Again", a family comedy starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, was in sixth place and earned 5.55 million dollars.

New films "Case 39" and "Let Me In" were in the seventh and eighth spots; "Case 39" is a horror-thriller starring Renee Zellweger that earned 5.35 million, and "Let Me In" a remake of a Swedish film, netted 5.30 million.

In ninth place was "Devil," M. Night Shyamalan's thriller about Satan trapping victims in a Philadelphia high-rise. It earned 3.67 million dollars.

"Alpha and Omega," an animated movie about a wolf pack in the wilds of a Canadian nature reserve, was in 10th place with 3.0 million dollars in tickets sold.