Movieline

Weekend Receipts: The American Is Number One, Machete Deported To Third Place

    • George Clooney was the king of the (very weak) box office this weekend, as his bare-bones thriller The American took the top spot. In a tightly-fought battle for second place, it was the surprisingly still-strong Takers who edged out Machete -- though the difference between them is so small, they may swap places come Tuesday morning. And meanwhile Going the Distance ended up not going anywhere at all. Your weekend receipts are here.

    1. The American

    Gross: $12,968,000 ($16,114,000)

    Screens: 2,823 (PSA: $4,594)

    Weeks: 1

    So, good news / bad news for you, George Clooney. The good news, you've got another number one movie, you're richer than Croesus, and you never lack for beautiful female companionship. The only black fly in your chardonnay is that The American received an awful D- CinemaScore grade from viewers. To put that in context, Vampires Suck, a movie that flirted with a 0% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, got a solid D. Ouch.

    2. Takers

    Gross: $11,450,000 ($37,900,000)

    Screens: 2,206 (PSA: $5,190)

    Weeks: 2 (change: -44.2%)

    A sleeper sorta-hit, once again Takers has the best per-screen-average in the top five. T.I. must be feeling pretty good, even if the cops confiscated his ecstasy. Plus, the success of this movie means that Hayden Christensen doesn't have to move back in with his parents up in Canada.

    3. Machete

    Gross: $11,300,000 (new)

    Screens: 2,670 (PSA: $4,232)

    Weeks: 1

    If this is the best opening that the neo-grindhouse cinema can muster, I fear for the future of Hobo with a Shotgun.

    4. The Last Exorcism

    Gross: $7,645,000 ($32,477,000)

    Screens: 2,874 (PSA: $2,660)

    Weeks: 2 (change:-62.5%)

    When not causing an unholy conflagration, The Last Exorcism has been bothering people with it's "twist" ending. I don't want to toot my own horn here, but while I was watching it, I had a feeling Bruce Willis was dead the entire time.

    5. Going the Distance

    Gross: $6,885,000 (new)

    Screens: 3,030 (PSA: $2,272)

    Weeks: 1

    So, Southwest is prominently featured in this movie--big, bright Southwest signs and placards everywhere, the characters fly it, etc. etc. Clearly Southwest shelled out some dough to be the airline of choice. So why, when surrounded with all this Southwest paraphernalia, does Justin Long get a big huffy scene where exclaims "Oh no, not a middle seat!"? Southwest doesn't assign you a seat, it's always been first come, first seated. I'm not asking for some great verisimilitude out of a yukky rom-com, I'm just asking people to LOOK AT THE SCRIPT AND THEN LOOK AT WHAT NAME IS NEARLY COVERING EVERY INCH OF THE SET.

    [Numbers via Box Office Mojo]