The American may have snagged the #1 spot at the box office, but it’s not really a top honor this Labor Day weekend. It looks as though folks didn’t use their extra day off to head to the theater because The American only managed to bank $13.1 million. Tack on the film’s $3.1 million three-day head start and its $3.3 million holiday intake and that brings it to a total of $19.5 million, just short of its $20 million budget.
Taking the #2 spot is newcomer Machete with a $14 million four-day opening weekend. Following close behind is last week’s top earner, Takers, which added another $13.5 million to its bank account bringing its domestic gross to $40 million. Taking a rough 63.6% hit (not including Labor Day) is The Last Exorcism, which dropped from #2 to #4 in its second week. It earned $8.8 million this weekend.
The fifth position went to this week’s third newcomer, Going the Distance. Even though it opened in more theaters than both Machete and The American, Going the Distance only managed to pull in $8.6 million. Even worse? It had a much larger budget than its competition. Machete and The American both cost about $20 million to make while Going the Distance ran New Line a $32 million tab.
The Expendables fell 10.8% (including Labor Day) in its fourth week, earning another $8.5 million while The Other Guys held up quite well in week five, getting a little boost thanks to the extra day this weekend, increasing its intake 5.8% and earning $6.7 million. Eat Pray Love secured the eighth position with $6.3 million while Inception took the ninth with $5.9 million. Rounding out the top ten is Nanny McPhee Returns earning another $4.7 million and bringing its domestic total to $23.5 million.
Hopefully for Resident Evil: Afterlife’s sake, this will be a better box office week because it’s completely clear of new competition. If this week’s newcomers and veterans split the field so evenly, Resident Evil should have no problem making a killing, especially considering those higher 3D ticket prices. As for limited releases, we’ve got Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix’s I’m Still Here as well as the sex comedy The Virginity Hit and Mel Damski’s Legendary starring John Cena, Patricia Clarkson and Danny Glover.
By Perri Nemiroff (via Box Office Mojo)
