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Box Office Report: The Town Comes Home To No. 1


B-Aff really went to town at the box office this weekend as the actor/director/co-screenwriter of The Town saw his crime drama perform much better than expected in its debut, taking in an estimated $23.8 million to open in first place, upsetting the widely predicted winner Easy A.

Ben Affleck's film, his second as a director, was expected to open in second place with around $15 to $17 million. Credit its actual performance to strong reviews, positive word of mouth and its status as the first serious Oscar hopeful to come out of the gate this season.

Easy A had to settle for second place and earned an estimated $18.2 million.

Opening in third place was Devil. The movie, the first in the Night Chronicles series of low-budget horror releases produced by M. Night Shyamalan, scared up an estimated $12.6 million.

'Devil' had to share a genre audience with last week's champ, Resident Evil: Afterlife. That film slipped to fourth place and lost 62 percent of its business, for an estimated take of $10.1 million. That second-week drop is typical for this franchise, but with a total so far of $44 million, Afterlife is on target to be the highest grossing of the four 'Resident Evil' movies.

Opening in fifth place was the 3-D animal cartoon Alpha and Omega with $9.2 million. It was the only new children's film in a marketplace currently devoid of family fare, but its marketing campaign was barely visible and few kids or their parents were likely aware of the film.

The full top 10:
1. The Town $23.8 million (2,861 screens), new release
2. Easy A $18.2 million (2,856), new release
3. Devil $12.6 million (2,809), new release
4. Resident Evil: Afterlife $10.1 million (3,209), $44.0 million total
5. Alpha and Omega $9.2 million (2,625), new release
6. Taker $3.0 million (2,139), $52.3 million
7. The American $2.8 million (2,457 screens), $32.9 million
8. Inception $2.02 million (1,305), $285.2 million
9. The Other Guys $2.0 million (1,827), $115.4 million
10. Machete $1.7 million (1,704), $24.3 million
10. Eat Pray Love $1.7 million (1,668), $77.7 million

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