'Resident Evil' Takes Bite Out of Competition

Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth live-action film in the series based on the Resident Evil video games, chewed its way to the top of the box office charts this weekend.  The film brought in a series' best $27.7 million, boosted by 3-D ticket sales.  Attendance was down from prior films in the series, but with a modest $60 million budget, the film should turn a nice profit for distributor Sony.

Second place went to Takers, which fell 44% to $6.1 million in its third weekend.  With $48.1 million to-date, the high concept heist flick is well on its way into the black.

In third spot was George Clooney's The American, falling from the top spot last weekend.  The film dropped 55.3%, which is significant for a film that appeals to an older audience.  This likely means it isn't experiencing stellar word-of-mouth.  $5.9 million in grosses, The American has tallied a total of $26.7 million over two weeks.

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Slow Labour Day Weekend Allows 'American' to slash 'Machete'

George Clooney's The American led a typically slow Labour Day weekend at the box office, bringing in $16.7 million over the three days since opening on the previous Wednesday.  Its total after the weekend was $19.8 million.

In second place, Machete, the spin-off flick from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse film, opened with $14.1 million.  

The top two films each had a production budget of approximately $20 million, so both should be able to reach profitability relatively easily.

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