Oliver Megaton seeking 'Land of the Living'

Director Oliver Megaton has joined "Land of the Living," an abduction thriller based on the best-selling British novel.

The book was published in 2003.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Megaton, whose most recent project is the upcoming "Taken 2," will direct the film, which follows a young ad executive who is abducted off the streets, escapes and then hunts down her would-be killer.

The script is from Scott Gullette and is based on the book by Nicci French, the pen name of writing duo Nicci Gerard and Sean French.

The film will be produced by a slew of companies, including Emjag Productions, Stone Village, Battleplan Productions, Film 360 and Dro Entertainment.

Megaton directed last year's "Colombiana," the revenge thriller starring Zoe Saldana and produced by Luc Besson.

Weekend Box Office: 'The Debt' leads newcomers at the box office; 'The Help' stays on top

August's box office woes continued into the first weekend of September, with three new movies once again failing to unseat "The Help" from its number one position.

"The Debt" earned $9.6 million.

"The Help," which became the first movie since "Inception" to top the box office chart three weeks in a row, earned $14.2 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its total to $118 million. The film only dropped 2.3 percent compared its total last week.

"The Debt," starring Hellen Mirren, led the newcomers with  $9.6 million, good enough for second place, according to studio estimates. Although not a great opening total, it made its money on significantly fewer screens than its competition, 1,800 compared to 2,800 for "The Help" and "Shark Night 3D" and 3,300 for "Apollo 18."

Speaking of the horror thrillers, "Apollo 18" debuted with $8.7 million, with "Shark Night 3D" just behind at $8,640,000.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" continued its strong run, picking up $7.8 million in its fifth week for a total of $160 million.

Last week's "Columbiana" fell a respectable 28 percent to hold at sixth place, followed by "Our Idiot Brother" with $5.1 million and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" with $4.9 million. "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World" and "The Smurfs" rounded out the top 10.

With Labor Day on Monday, the films are expected to increase their holiday weekend totals, which will be reported tomorrow.

The three-day weekend top ten was as follows:

1. "The Help," $14,209,000 (Total: $118.6 million)
2. "The Debt," $9,667,000 (Total: $11.5 million)
3. "Apollo 18," $8,700,000 (New)
4. "Shark Night 3D," $8,640,000 (New) 
5. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $7,800,000 (Total: $160 million)
6. "Colombiana," $7,400,000 ($21.9 million)
7. "Our Idiot Brother," $5,182,000 ($15.4 million)
8. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," $4,941,000 ($16.3 million)
9. "Sky Kids: All the Time in the World," $4,637,000 ($29 million)
10. "The Smurfs," $4,000,000 (Total: $131.9 million)

Hurricane Irne helps 'The Help' to another victory

With the northeast facing Hurricane Irene, it was not a great weekend at the box office, with "The Help" holding onto the top spot for the second week in a row while another trio of newcomers disappointed.

'The Help' held onto the top spot.

"The Help" earned $14.5 million during its third weekend, bringing its total to $96 million and making it the second highest grossing film of the month, behind "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."

The prequel/reboot fell to third place this weekend with $8.9 million in its fourth week of release for a total of $148 million. (The studios released the weekend's actual box office grosses today.)

Of the newcomers, Luc Besson's "Columbiana" fared the best, with $10.4 million, good enough for second place. Directed by Oliver Megaton, the film, like most of Besson's works, was made on a smaller than average budget ($40 million). The opening for "Columbiana" was slightly higher than Besson's last film, "From Paris with Love" ($8.1 million), which went on to earn $24 million domestically and $52 million worldwide, equaling its production budget.

The horror film "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," starring Katie Holmes, scared up $8.5 million in its debut weekend. Produced and written by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"), the movie was made for $25 million.

Opening in fifth place with $7 million was "Our Idiot Brother." Although the comedy boasted a paltry $2,700 per screen average, its tiny $5 million budget should help The Weinstein Company make its money back, depending on how much they spent on promotions.

Faring even worse were last weekend's holdovers, with "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," "Conan the Barbarian" and "Fright Night" all taking significant hits in their second week, dropping 48 percent, 68 percent and 59 percent respectively. With a production budget of $90 million and only $16.6 million to show for it, "Conan" is making a case for one of the biggest box office bombs of the summer.

"The Smurfs," one of the only other films to find an audience this month (although it debuted the last weekend of July), held relatively strong with $4.5 million in its fifth week for a total of $125 million.

The weekend's top 10 films were as follows:

1. "The Help," $14,536,118 (Total: $96.8 million)
2. "Columbiana," $10,408,176 (New)
3. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $8,867,741 (Total: $148.6 million)
4. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," $8,525,728 (New)
5. "Our Idiot Brother," $7,011,631 (New) 
6. "Sky Kids: All the Time in the World," $6,007,180 ($21.9 million)
7. "The Smurfs," $4,754,766 (Total: $125.9 million)
8. "Conan the Barbarian." $3,185,094 ($16.6 million)
9. "Crazy, Stupid, Love," $3,108,178 (Total: $69.7 million)
10. "Fright Night," $3,103,227 ($14.2 million)