WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Last week, Sylvester Stallone's testosterone-filled action movie The Expendables took siege of the box office for a second week in a row despite tough competition from new entries like Vampires Suck, Piranha 3D, Nanny McPhee Returns and The Switch. But this weekend Stallone's comeback movie was no match for the debut of the hip-hop heist flick Takers.

The movie boasts an all-star cast, which includes Paul Walker (Fast & Furious), Idris Elba(The Losers), Matt Dillon (Armored), Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith), Michael Ealy (Miracle at St. Anna), Jay Hernandez (Quarantine), Chris Brown (Stomp the Yard), T.I. (American Gangster), and Zoe Saldana (Avatar). The movie made $9,298 on each of its 2,206 screens for an opening weekend total of $20.5 million, nearly earning back all of its $20 million production budget.

Current master of horror Eli Roth's new scary movie, The Last Exorcism, came in second with a photo-finish cum of $20.3 million at the box office. The movie, which stars Patrick Fabian (Must Love Dogs), Louis Herthum (I Love You Phillip Morris) and Ashley Bell (State of Play) opened on 2,874 screens and earned about $7,087 on each. The filmmakers should be extremely pleased with their opening weekend total since the picture only cost about $1.8 million to make.

Falling two places to number three this week for the first time since it debuted at number one over two weeks ago is the action-packed film, The Expendables from writer/director and star Sylvester Stallone. Besides Stallone, film stars an array of the toughest action stars from several different decades including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the movie dropped almost 44.0% from the previous week, it actually managed to add 128 theaters for a total of 3,398 and earn roughly $2,796 in each for a weekend total of $9.5 million. Now in just three weeks the movie has made over $82 million earning back its entire $80 million production budget.

Slipping one place to number four this week is Eat, Pray, Love directed by Ryan Murphy (Glee) and based on the internationally popular novel by author Elizabeth Gilbert. The film stars Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, as well as Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins, Golden Globe winner James Franco and Billy Crudup. While the film dropped 42.2% from the previous week, it still managed to add 26 theaters for a total of 3,108 and earned roughly $2,252 in each for an additional $7 million this weekend. Now in just three weeks the movie has become a solid hit making about $60.7 million so far and earning back its entire $60 million production budget.

Rounding off the top five this week for a second week in a row is the buddy-cop action/comedy film The Other Guys starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes. While the movie dropped 35.1% from the previous week, it was shown on 291 less screens for a total of 3,181 and earned almost $2,075 on each for a weekend tally of $6,6 million. Now in just under a month the movie has done extremely well earning $99.3 million, which puts it just shy of making back its entire $100 million production budget.

Not doing quite as well as expected in its debut this week was the re-release of James Cameron's Oscar nominated, record breaking, 3D blockbuster Avatar, which now features nine minutes of never-before-seen footage. The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi. The movie, which was only shown in 812 theaters, earned roughly $4,926 in each for an opening weekend total of about $4 million. Unfortunately it was not enough to crack the top ten on the charts and the movie ended up taking the number twelve spot.

Continuing to do well in limited release this week, thanks to great reviews and Oscar worthy performances from it's leads, is the new independent drama Get Low starring Oscar winners Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek and Oscar nominee Bill Murray. The film added 420 theaters this week and rose an incredible 144.9% from the previous week. It earned $3,067 on each of its 570 screens for a weekend total of $1.7 million. The movie has now earned $3.7 million in just over a month and if it continues to have good word-of-mouth as it opens in more cities it could end up earning back its $7 million production cost.

Next week will see the opening of three highly anticipated new fall films in wide release.

First up is the long-awaited new motion picture from visionary director Robert Rodriguez called Machete, which is based on the short film that was featured in his and Quentin Tarantino's film Grindhouse. The movie stars PEwKBywCY6r6Aw||Danny Trejo} (Heat) in the title role and also features a colorful cast of accomplished actors including Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar), Jeff Fahey (Lost), Cheech Marin (The Perfect Game), Don Johnson (Miami Vice), Steven Seagal (Half Past Dead), Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls) and Oscar winner Robert De Niro (Raging Bull).

Also opening next week is the new romantic comedy about long distance relationships called Going the Distance. The movie boasts an all-star cast of comedic actors including Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard), Christina Applegate (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore), Ron Livingston (Office Space), Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Rob Riggle (The Hangover) and Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live).

Finally opening in wide release next week is the new international espionage movie starring Oscar winner George Clooney (Syriana), entitled The American. So please check back in seven days to see who comes out on top at the box office next week!