According to the latest estimates released by BoxOfficeMojo, “Leatherheads”, the latest directorial effort of George Clooney earned on Friday $4,540,000 in ticket sales.

The new movie ranked second, behind the last weekend champion, “21”, which earned $5,250,000.

Based on a real story, “21” depicts the story of young Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), a shy, but brilliant M.I.T. student who finds the answers to his financial problems in the cards. Ben joins the group of the school's most gifted students, led by a math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey). They are ready to gamble in Las Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the knowledge to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With $31,432,755, “21 “ was last weekend champion.

Set in 1920, “Leatherheads” is a story about football and passion, with George Clooney as leading actor. Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a witty quarterback in his mid-40swho is determined to save his team, the Duluth Bulldogs, from extinction. The team loses its sponsor and the players start to re-orientate their “careers”. This is until Dodge comes up with an idea that is meant to not only save the team, but also to draw thousands of supporters to their matches: war hero and Princeton star quarterback Carter “the Bullet” Rutherford (John Krasinsk) is brought to their team.

But Rutherford doesn’t come alone; involuntarily he draws Chicago Tribune reporter Lexie Littleton (played by Renée Zellweger) who goes to great lengths to discover some dirty issues from his past. Only that when there are two charming men and a beautiful woman, something else comes along, and from foe she becomes the love interest of both of them, engendering an amusing love triangle.

“Leatherheads” is the third major movie being directed by George Clooney, after “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” in 2002 and “Good Night, and Good Luck” in 2005. According to Universal Pictures, the movie had a production budget of $58 million and it is expected to gain at least $16 million in the first three days.

Another weekend premiere, “Nim’s Island”, a fantasy movie with Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin won the third spot $3,850,000. Abigail Breslin portrays Nim, a little girl who lives on a tropical island with her father, a scientist. When her father is caught in a storm, Nim turns for help to her favorite hero, Alex Rover, without knowing that he is just a fictional character created by a female author.

“Horton Hears A Who”, a previous champion at the box office, ranked fifth with $2,500,000 in sales, right behind another premiere, Paramount’s “The Ruins, a thriller that earned $2,750,000. “Superhero Movie”, a parody of Spiderman movies, which opened last weekend, gained the sixth place in this Friday box office, with $1,740,000.

“Drillbit Taylor,” a new comedy starring Owen Wilson as a bodyguard hired by several high school students to protect them from a psychopath in training, ranked seventh with $1,140,000. The top 10 was rounded by “Shutter” ($1,030,000), “Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns” ($950,000) and “10,000 B.C” ($775,000).