Los Angeles, Sept 07: Less than a year after starring in the biggest movie of his volatile career, Nicolas Cage returned to the top of the North American box office on Sunday with one of his weakest.

"Bangkok Dangerous," a thriller in which the 44-year-old actor plays a jaded assassin, led the lackluster field with weekend earnings of just USD7.8 million, distributor Lionsgate said. Industry observers had expected an opening of more than USD 10 million.

Cage has actually done a lot worse: his terrorism thriller "Next" opened to $7.1 million in April 2007 and the family drama "The Weather Man" to USD 4.2 million in 2005. But he was last in theaters with the adventure sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," which opened to USD 45 million last December on its way to USD 220 million.

The last No. 1 movie to open lower at the North American box office was the David Spade comedy "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," which kicked off with USD 6.7 million in 2003, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

Overall ticket sales usually tumble in September now that the summer blockbuster season is out of the way and school is back in session. The studios spend the early fall quietly dumping their underperforming movies on the market. "Bangkok Dangerous" was the only new wide release this weekend.

After three weeks at No. 1, DreamWorks/Paramount`s Hollywood satire "Tropic Thunder" slipped to No 2 with USD 7.5 million, while Columbia Pictures` comedy "The House Bunny" rose one to No 3 with USD 5.9 million in its third week. Their respective tallies stand at USD 97 million and USD 37 million.

Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures are units of Viacom Inc. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp.

Bureau Report