Final Numbers Show The American Carved Up Machete For The #1 Spot At The Box Office

September 07, 2010 | by The Infamous Billy The Kidd |

It was a painfully slow weekend at the box office, money-wise, and, as a result, the low dollar totals enabled George Clooney to score the #1 movie over Labor Day weekend with THE AMERICAN. The marketing of the film as an action-packed spy thriller certainly aided the film in out-performing its competitors to the tune of $13.1 million, posting $16.2 million since its Wednesday release. It was able to stay ahead of the reach of Robert Rodriguez’s GRINDHOUSE-inspired MACHETE, which gave THE AMERICAN a violent run for its money but came up short in 2nd place with $11.4 million, essentially matching the opening dollar amount of the Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature.

TAKERS fell from the top spot, for good reason, all the way to #3, still tallying $10.9 million. In its 2nd week of release, TAKERS has already hit $37.3 million domestically, a total that no one saw coming, except for maybe the people in it, their families, and maybe a few of their agents.

THE LAST EXORCISM absolutely bombed in its 2nd weekend, taking a 64% percentage hit from its audience the week before, for $7.4 million. Horror movie typically don’t hold up well after opening weekend, but, for those who may have been waiting to see it, poor word of mouth couldn’t have helped matters anyway, as, from the drastic drop, it appears The Kidd’s not the only one who thought the ending sucked. However, the silver lining of its box office performance is that, for the miniscule budget it was made for, it’s $32.1 million take so far as proven extremely profitable for Lionsgate. And, whether you liked THE LAST EXORCISM or not, that’s a good sign for original horror that isn’t necessarily a sequel, a remake, or a reboot. Films like this and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT all those many years ago and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY show that there is a market for films that rely on story and concept more than gore and effects. Therefore, if you’re a horror fan, you have to be happy with how THE LAST EXORCISM turned out, even if you weren’t a big fan of how it actually turned out.

The Kidd was dead wrong about GOING THE DISTANCE, which tanked in a major way, opening at #5 with $6.9 million. Audiences have clearly soured on romantic comedies lately with THE SWITCH also taking that bullet a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, movie-goers are missing out on this funny gem, because the difference between a movie like GOING THE DISTANCE and THE SWITCH is that the former is really good. The ad campaign Warner Bros. unveiled for GOING THE DISTANCE really did the film a disservice, as it strayed from the dirty raunch humor that could have brought those that enjoy a good Apatow-style flick in favor of trying to attract the female audiences that typically go for this fare, but have been staying away from the formulaic genre.

The Kidd was really wrong about the latest batch of new releases. I had the money close on MACHETE, but I couldn’t have been more off about THE AMERICAN and GOING THE DISTANCE. However, after hearing reaction from those who did see THE AMERICAN and came out disappointed that it wasn’t the movie they thought they were getting, I’m pretty sure I would have been more dead-on had THE AMERICAN not lied to the general public about the movie is really was. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good – I enjoyed it – but it wasn’t what it claimed to be.

This weekend sees the release of RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE, which is carrying 3-D and IMAX. That should make for a new #1, somewhere in the neighborhood of $26 million. The previous 2 installments have opened consistently around $23 million, but the 3-D and IMAX showings should add a few extra bucks to that total.

Here’s the full top 10 from this weekend’s box office:

THE AMERICAN - $13.1 Million ($16.2 Million)
MACHETE - $11.4 Million
TAKERS - $10.9 Million ($37.3 Million)
THE LAST EXORCISM - $7.4 Million ($32.1 Million)
GOING THE DISTANCE - $6.9 Million
THE EXPENDABLES - $6.6 Million ($92.2 Million)
THE OTHER GUYS - $5.3 Million ($106.7 Million)
EAT PRAY LOVE - $4.8 Million ($68.9 Million)
INCEPTION - $4.5 Million ($278.4 Million)
NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS - $3.5 Million ($22.3 Million)

That’s going to mark the end of this rather disappointing and subpar summer movie season that was filled with more bombs and busts than anything else. Hopefully, 2011 brings about a better blockbuster season, because, while there were some exceptions, taking a look at this summer’s top 10 overall films shows just how badly things sucked over the past couple of months.

Here’s the top 10 movies at the box office for the 2010 summer: