The American Box Office has finally recovered from a stretch of unsuccessful weekends with a huge turnaround. The Coen Brothers’ CIA comedy, “Burn After Reading,” caught fire with audiences, earning more than $19.4 million, making it the number one film of the weekend. It was the biggest opening weekend for a Coen Brothers film ever (the picture to beat was “The Ladykillers” which had earned $12.6 million previously).
On its tail, was Tyler Perry’s “Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys.” The film made over $18 million. The re-teaming of Bob DeNiro and Al Pacino, “Righteous Kill,” opened on over 3000 screens and ended up in third place with $16.5 million. The only other new film opening in wide release this weekend, “Cooterville,” starring Annette Bening and The Joker, made more than $10 million and took the fourth spot.
Rounding out the top 10 was the surprisingly steady “The House Bunny” followed by “Tropic Thunder” and “The Dark Knight.” Last weekend’s winner, “Bangkok Dangerous,” fell more than 69% to the number eight spot. “Traitor” and “Death Race” finished ninth and tenth respectively.
Also, barely worth mentioning, the cheaply animated children’s film, “Fly Me to the Moon,” made a .6% increase from last weekend and jumped up two spots from 16th to 14th. Way to go! You still won’t break even!