'The Town' Exceeds Expectations, Wins Box Office
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LOS ANGELES — "The Town" made off with $23.8 million in its opening weekend to take the No. 1 spot at the box office.
The Warner Bros. drama about bank robbers in an insular section of Boston is the second film Ben Affleck has directed following 2007's "Gone Baby Gone." Affleck also stars alongside Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm.
Opening in second place at the crowded start of the fall film season was Columbia Pictures' high school "Easy A," starring Emma Stone. It made $17.7 million, according to final studio figures Monday.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "The Town," Warner Bros., $23,808,032, 2861 locations, $8,322 average, $23,808,032, one week.
2. "Easy A," Sony-Screen Gems, $17,734,040, 2856 locations, $6,209 average, $17,734,040, one week.
3. "Devil," Universal, $12,289,375, 2809 locations, $4,375 average, $12,289,375, one week.
4. "Resident Evil: Afterlife," Sony-Screen Gems, $10,002,592, 3209 locations, $3,117 average, $43,893,958, two weeks.
5. "Alpha and Omega," Lionsgate, $9,106,906, 2625 locations, $3,469 average, $9,106,906, one week.
6. "Takers," Sony-Screen Gems, $3,026,285, 2139 locations, $1,415 average, $52,372,349, four weeks.
7. "The American," Focus, $2,672,521, 2457 locations, $1,088 average, $32,772,475, three weeks.
8. "The Other Guys," Sony, $1,972,046, 1827 locations, $1,079 average, $115,403,440, seven weeks.
9. "Inception," Warner Bros., $1,967,137, 1305 locations, $1,507 average, $285,129,855, 10 weeks.
10. "Machete," Fox, $1,755,550, 1704 locations, $1,030 average, $24,391,354, three weeks.
11. "Eat Pray Love," Sony, $1,614,431, 1668 locations, $968 average, $77,600,235, six weeks.
12. "The Expendables," Lionsgate, $1,373,298, 1854 locations, $741 average, $101,020,533, six weeks.
13. "Going the Distance," Warner Bros., $1,355,246, 2007 locations, $675 average, $16,771,305, three weeks.
14. "The Last Exorcism," Lionsgate, $1,211,349, 2013 locations, $602 average, $40,113,370, four weeks.
15. "Nanny McPhee Returns," Universal, $969,345, 1588 locations, $610 average, $27,617,940, five weeks.
16. "The Switch," Miramax, $930,037, 1158 locations, $803 average, $26,600,152, five weeks.
17. "Despicable Me," Universal, $910,965, 944 locations, $965 average, $244,739,015, 11 weeks.
18. "Lottery Ticket," Warner Bros., $625,812, 677 locations, $924 average, $23,505,360, five weeks.
19. "Vampires Suck," Fox, $568,012, 964 locations, $589 average, $35,865,445, five weeks.
20. "Get Low," Sony Pictures Classics, $551,494, 467 locations, $1,181 average, $7,785,090, eight weeks.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice
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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.
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CHRISTY LEMIRE 09/20/10 06:34 PM ET Associated Press