THE TOWN LIFTS BOX OFFICE

Ben Affleck’s The Town reignited the box office over the weekend as it hauled in $23.8 million, exactly what the studio on Sunday estimated it would earn. The figure was far higher than most box-office gurus had predicted and eclipsed the $17.7 million earned by the comedy Easy A, which most of those same gurus had predicted would become the weekend winner. The horror flick Devil opened in third place with an unimpressive $12.3 million. A fourth newcomer, the 3D animated Alpha and Omega could do no better than fifth place despite the 3D surcharge, earning $9.1 million. The overall box office was flat with the comparable weekend a year ago, with the top 12 films grossing $87.32 million, up .07 percent from last year’s $87.26 million. However, the results were up 32.7 percent from last weekend, which saw the smallest figures for the second weekend in September in four years.

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The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. The Town, Warner Bros., $23,808,032, (New); 2. Easy A, Sony/Screen Gems, $17,734,040, (New); 3. Devil, Universal, $12,289,375, (New); 4. Resident Evil: Afterlife, Sony/Screen Gems, $10,002,592, 2 Wks. ($43,893,958); 5. Alpha and Omega, Lionsgate, $9,106,906, (New); 6. Takers, Sony, $3,026,285, 4 Wks. ($52,372,349); 7. The American, Focus Features, $2,672,521, 3 Wks. ($32,772,475); 8. The Other Guys, Sony/Columbia, $1,972,046, 7 Wks. ($115,403,440); 9. Inception, Warner Bros., $1,967,137, 10 Wks. ($285,129,855); 10. Machete, 20th Century Fox, $1,755,550, 3 Wks. ($24,391,354).