With many Americans celebrating the end of summer, it appears that going to the movie wasn’t high on the agenda.
The top box-office earner was George Clooney’s new feature, “The American,” taking in $16.3 million over the weekend. It was followed closely by “Machete,” taking in $14 million.
Holding in at a solid third was “Takers” followed by “The Last Exorcism” and “Going the Distance.”
The weekend closed out the books for the summer season and while ticket sales were up to $4.35 billion, the highest total ever for a summer season, overall attendance was down. Attendance this summer was 552 million, the lowest total since 1997.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | The American | Focus | $16,395,000 | - | 2,823 | - | $5,808 | $19,541,000 | $20 | 1 |
| 2 | N | Machete | Fox | $14,000,000 | - | 2,670 | - | $5,243 | $14,000,000 | $20 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Takers | SGem | $13,500,000 | -34.2% | 2,206 | - | $6,120 | $39,951,000 | $32 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | The Last Exorcism | LGF | $8,780,000 | -56.9% | 2,874 | - | $3,055 | $33,552,000 | $1.8 | 2 |
| 5 | N | Going the Distance | WB (NL) | $8,610,000 | - | 3,030 | - | $2,842 | $8,610,000 | $32 | 1 |
| 6 | 3 | The Expendables | LGF | $8,500,000 | -10.8% | 3,398 | - | $2,501 | $94,068,000 | $80 | 4 |
| 7 | 5 | The Other Guys | Sony | $6,650,000 | +5.8% | 2,607 | -574 | $2,551 | $108,116,000 | $100 | 5 |
| 8 | 4 | Eat Pray Love | Sony | $6,250,000 | -8.3% | 2,663 | -445 | $2,347 | $70,354,000 | $60 | 4 |
| 9 | 7 | Inception | WB | $5,850,000 | +20.0% | 1,704 | -366 | $3,433 | $278,423,000 | $160 | 8 |
| 10 | 8 | Nanny McPhee Returns | Uni. | $4,671,000 | -0.9% | 2,708 | -90 | $1,725 | $23,537,000 | $35 | 3 |
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