With the three-day Labor Day weekend concluded, the Summer movie season that began back in May is officially over. As usual for this time of year, none of the new releases wowed at the box office, but George Clooney's latest, The American, nabbed the top spot with $16.6 million. Factoring in the box office from its early debut on Wednesday, and its domestic total stands at $19.8 million.
Machete, starring Danny Trejo, did okay with a $14.1 million opening, while Drew Barrymore's latest romantic comedy, Going the Distance, underwhelmed in fifth place with an $8.5 million three-day take. Distance's production budget, at $32 million, was actually larger than that of either The American or Machete, making its mediocre debut all the more disappointing.
Among holdovers, Takers increased its lead over last week's fellow opener, The Last Exorcism, falling a smaller than normal 34% in its second weekend and lifting its domestic total to about $40 million. Despicable Me, this summer's surprise animated hit increased its box office by 41.5% and leaped back into the top 12 based on, we suspect, being released on the budget theater circuit.
We'll be back later in the week for our Summer Movie Season wrap up of winners and losers.
Here are the domestic box office actuals for the weekend of September 3-6, 2010:
|
Title |
Weekend Gross
(US+Canada)
|
change from
last week
|
Total Gross
|
1 |
The American
(Focus Features)
|
$16,662,333 |
debut |
$19,806,118 |
2 |
Machete
(20th Century Fox)
|
$14,102,888 |
debut |
$14,102,888 |
3 |
Takers
(Screen Gems)
|
$13,535,992 |
-34.0% |
$39,986,817 |
4 |
The Last Exorcism
(Lionsgate Films)
|
$8,750,191 |
-57.0% |
$33,522,575 |
5 |
Going the Distance
(Warner Bros./New Line Cinema)
|
$8,508,290 |
debut |
$8,508,290 |
6 |
The Expendables
(Lionsgate Films)
|
$8,317,824 |
-12.7% |
$93,885,594 |
7 |
The Other Guys
(Sony Pictures)
|
$6,664,628 |
+6.0% |
$108,130,839 |
8 |
Eat Pray Love
(Sony Pictures)
|
$6,175,610 |
-9.4% |
$70,279,644 |
9 |
Inception
(Warner Bros.)
|
$5,884,355 |
+20.7% |
$278,457,609 |
10 |
Nanny McPhee Returns
(Universal)
|
$4,806,685 |
+2.0% |
$23,672,660 |
11 |
Despicable Me
(Universal)
|
$4,047,680 |
+41.5% |
$241,498,630 |
12 |
Vampires Suck
(20th Century Fox)
|
$3,941,945 |
-24.5% |
$33,240,602 |
|