News

The Mexican edged out The American on Friday, though the latter is poised to come out on top as the weekend progresses. Neither picture generated much excitement, and overall business was typically lackluster for the start of Labor Day weekend. Robert RodriguezGeorge ClooneyDrew Barrymore

The summer movie season is poised for a typically quiet close this Labor Day weekend. Three pictures enter the nationwide fray: Going the Distance strikes over 3,300 screens at 3,030 locations, The American hits approximately 3,200 screens at 2,823 locations, and Machete slashes onto around 3,400 screens at 2,670 locations. George ClooneyRobert RodriguezRobert De NiroJessica AlbaLindsay LohanDrew BarrymoreJustin LongJudd Apatow

While Takers eked out a weekend victory over The Last Exorcism, it played to substantially larger crowds throughout the week, widening the gap. The Expendables and Eat Pray Love settled for third and fourth place on typical declines, The Other Guys rounded out the Top Five for the second week in a row, and Avatar: Special Edition was largely ignored. Overall box office was off around five percent from last year, when The Final Destination had a series-best $35.1 million start.Will FerrellAdam McKay

While the numbers remain somewhat inconclusive, The Expendables appears to have held off The Last Airbender to retain the number one spot at the foreign box office over the weekend. Inception, Salt and The Karate Kid continued their strong runs, while Toy Story 3 passed $1 billion and Shrek Forever After gained further ground on its predecessors. Christopher Nolan

The Motion Picture Association of America's Classification and Ratings Administration released their weekly ratings bulletin this morning, which included ratings for Let Me In, Hereafter, Love and Other Drugs and a handful of late-year Sony Pictures Classics movies.

After expanding in to a nearly-wide 570 theaters, Get Low easily topped all limited releases for the third straight weekend. Mao's Last Dancer also added a handful of theaters and cruised in to second, while The Girl Who Played with Fire slowed a bit but maintained a solid pace. The top new release this weekend was documentary Nick Saban: Gamechanger, while French gangster movie Mesrine: Killer Instinct also had a fine debut. Robert DuvallBill MurrayOlga Kurylenko

Takers and The Last Exorcism delivered sizable debuts in a near photo finish for the weekend top spot, while Avatar's Special Edtion relaunch yielded modest numbers. Overall weekend business was off eight percent from the same timeframe last year, when The Final Destination led. Will Ferrell

On Friday, Toy Story 3 officially became the seventh movie ever to reach $1 billion at the worldwide box office. By Sunday, the animated sequel's total rose to $1.012 billion, moving past The Dark Knight to rank sixth on the all-time chart. Domestically, Toy Story 3 ranks ninth with $405.7 million, and, on the foreign-only front, it has climbed to 12th place with $606.4 million. Tim Burton

As the summer winds down to a close, a typically slow September appears to be on the horizon. Bearing in mind that the highest-grossing September on record was in 2007 with $555 million and that no single picture has ever made $100 million during the calendar month, the bar is low for this September's high-profile releases like Resident Evil: Afterlife, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. George ClooneyRobert RodriguezDrew BarrymoreJustin LongKatherine HeiglGerard ButlerBen AffleckJon HammJeremy RennerRebecca HallBlake LivelyM. Night ShyamalanEmma StoneAmanda BynesLisa KudrowThomas Haden ChurchOliver StoneMichael DouglasShia LaBeoufKristen BellWill FerrellAdam McKayKeira KnightleyCarey MulliganRyan ReynoldsDavis GuggenheimWoody Allen

On Friday, new releases The Last Exorcism and Takers dominated the chart with solid returns, Avatar added a bit more to its coffers with a special edition relaunch, and the holdovers saw largely standard declines.

For the penultimate weekend of the summer, The Last Exorcism aims to possess first place with an estimated 3,500 screens at 2,874 locations, while Takers busts in on around 2,600 screens at 2,206 locations. Avatar: Special Edition relaunches at 812 locations, including 125 IMAX venues, and Get Low leaps to a near-nationwide 570 locations. Idris ElbaPaul WalkerMatt DillonHayden Christensen

Amidst a wealth of unimpressive debuts, The Expendables and Eat Pray Love held on to the top two spots at the box office this week. Vampires Suck had the best showing out of the new releases, while The Other Guys continued to play well. Overall box office was nearly identical to the same timeframe last year, when Inglourious Basterds opened to an impressive $53.7 million. Julia RobertsWill FerrellAdam McKayJennifer AnistonChristopher NolanEdgar Wright

With official numbers slowly trickling in throughout the week, The Expendables appears to have narrowly topped Inception at the foreign box office over the weekend. The Last Airbender had its best weekend thus far, and Toy Story 3 moved even closer to reaching the coveted $1 billion mark. Sylvester StalloneM. Night Shyamalan

After nearly tripling its theater count, Get Low had no problem remaining the top draw among limited releases for the second straight weekend. Chart regulars The Girl Who Played with Fire and Winter's Bone showed no signs of fading, while Mao's Last Dancer fared decently in its debut. Robert DuvallBill Murray

The weekend's five new nationwide releases were unimposing, allowing The Expendables to claim the top spot again with $17 million, though the muscle-bound action ensemble didn't show any further strength. Jason StathamJet LiSylvester StalloneJennifer AnistonJason BatemanJulia Roberts

On Friday, The Expendables held enough ground to lead the box office again, due to five new nationwide releases posting modest numbers. Vampires Suck drew more blood in its third day than Lottery Ticket, Piranha 3D, The Switch and Nanny McPhee Returns in their first days, but none were compelling.

The Expendables raided the box office this week, topping a strong opening from Eat Pray Love and a middling debut from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Among holdovers, The Other Guys fell hard, while Inception had its biggest drop yet. Overall box office was up around two percent from last year, when District 9 led the way with $54.6 million. Sylvester StalloneJulia RobertsMeryl StreepAmy AdamsWill FerrellAdam McKayChristopher Nolan

Five movies of modest proportion enter the nationwide fray this weekend. Vampires Suck bites into approximately 3,150 screens at 2,978 locations. Nanny McPhee Returns pops onto 2,784 locations (screen count is unclear at this time). Piranha 3D leaps onto around 2,600 screens at 2,470 locations. The Switch bastes 2,012 single-screen locations. Lottery Ticket draws close to 2,250 screens at 1,973 locations. Last weekend's champ, The Expendables, has a shot at remaining on top: if it continues to follow Inglourious Basterds' pattern, it would make nearly $17 million this weekend. Jason FriedbergAaron SeltzerEmma ThompsonJennifer AnistonJason BatemanShad MossIce Cube

In a somewhat slow weekend at the foreign box office, Inception had no problem maintaining its grip on first place. Toy Story 3 also continued its remarkable run, passing a number of milestones in the process. The Expendables opened decently in 20 territories, while The Sorcerer's Apprentice had its best overseas weekend thus far. Christopher Nolan

Sony Pictures announced this afternoon that the Johnny Depp-Angelina Jolie romantic thriller The Tourist is now set to open Dec. 10. This comes a day after Sony also shuffled Underworld 4 and added Roland Emmerich's Anonymous to their upcoming slate.Rhys Ifans