‘Butterfly Effect’ upsets box office

Ashton Kutcher punked the critics as his time-travel thriller “The Butterfly Effect” stole the top spot at the weekend box office.

“The Butterfly Effect” stars Kutcher as a college student haunted by repressed childhood memories who travels back in time to inhabit the body of his younger self and undo events.

Other estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters:

2. “Along Came Polly,” $16.6 million

3. “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!” $7.5 million

4. “Big Fish,” $7.3 million

5. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” $6.85 million

6. “Cheaper by the Dozen,” $6.6 million

7. “Cold Mountain,” $5.03 million

8. “Torque,” $4.43 million

9. “Something’s Gotta Give,” $4.1 million

10. “Mystic River,” $3.13 million

Role lures Fonda back to film

Jane Fonda is ending her 14-year retirement from acting to appear in a film opposite Jennifer Lopez, The Associated Press reports.

Fonda will appear in “Monster-in-Law,” playing the difficult mother of Lopez’s fiance, publicist Pat Kingsley said.

Fonda, 66, last appeared in the 1990 film “Stanley & Iris.” She retired from acting after marrying her now ex-husband, media mogul Ted Turner.

Fonda, a longtime political advocate, has recently made public appearances to promote the nonprofit organization V-Day. The group is led by Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler and campaigns around the world to combat violence against women.

Eminem’s ex gets probation

Mount Clemens, Mich.– Kimberly Mathers, the ex-wife of rapper Eminem, has been sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to a drug charge and a driving offense, prosecutors said.

Mathers, 28, pleaded guilty last month to a charge of possessing 25 grams or less of cocaine and failing to give adequate space to an emergency vehicle.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, Circuit Judge Edward A. Servitto dismissed a third charge of driving with a suspended license and a charge of maintaining a drug house, said David Portuesi, chief of the drug crimes unit for the prosecutor’s office.

Mathers was sentenced Wednesday and, as conditions of her probation, she may not use alcohol or nonprescription drugs and must undergo random drug testing, Portuesi said.