It was a zombified weekend at the box office, in more ways than one. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) was the only movie to show any real signs of life, opening at No. 1 in 3,202 theaters with $27.7 million, according to early estimates. It’s a record debut for the based-on-a-videogame zombie franchise.
The 3-D film certainly benefitted from higher 3-D ticket prices, which helped boost the four-quel to one of the best-ever openings for a post-Labor Day weekend. This year’s first fall weekend was no exception — the next six films’ three-day gross combined still can’t quite equal Resident Evil: Afterlife‘s debut figure.

Leading that enfeebled pack was, surprisingly, the heist thriller Takers with $6.1 million, just a 44 percent drop from its three-day take last weekend for a $48.1 million total. With the top two films this weekend, it’s a good day indeed over at Sony/Screen Gems.
Last weekend’s winner, The American, weathered bad word-of-mouth and slipped to third, dropping 55 percent from last weekend with $5.9 million and $28.3 million total. Machete suffered an even worse decline, falling 63 percent to fourth place, with just $4.2 million for the weekend and $20.8 million total. In fifth place, the underperforming romantic comedy Going the Distance finally posted a somewhat decent number, dropping only 44 percent with $3.8 million for fifth place. It’s grossed $14 million total over ten days.

Rounding out the rest of the box office: The Other Guys jumped to sixth, laughing up $3.6 million (a tiny 32 percent decline), for $112.7 million total. The Last Exorcism fell to seventh, sinking another 53 percent with $3.5 million and $38.2 million total. In eighth, The Expendables brought in another $3.3 million, a 51 percent drop for a $98.5 million cume. Inception continued its slow trickle down the charts, sliding just 34 percent to ninth place with a $3.0 million gross and $282.4 millon total. And in 10th, Eat Pray Love cooked up $2.9 million, a 40 percent drop. Over 31 days, it’s made $74.6 million, hardly a hefty sum for one-time box office queen Julia Roberts.

Source: Press Release