Proud American

The George Clooney action pic The American overtakes Machete to be the top film (so far) as the Labor Day holiday weekend and Summer 2010 nears an end....



Lindsay Powers of 'THR

George Clooney's "The American" pulled ahead of "Machete" as the No. 1 movie in America, according to Sunday box office estimates.

The Focus Features film earned $12.9 million, while Sony Screen Gems' "Takers" -- which led the box office last weekend -- came in No. 2 with $11.4 million.

"Machete," which has seen its fair share of press and controversy , slipped to third with $11.3 million. Early Friday estimates had put it ahead of "The American," when it made $3.9 million to Clooney's $3.8 million. (But The Hollywood Reporter wrote Saturday that Clooney's film would likely win the Labor Day weekend box office war because it would attract more couples on date night than Robert Rodriguez's gory genre pic.)

Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate's "Last Exorcism," which has traditionally attracted a heavily Catholic audience, with $7.5 million, or $32.3 cumulative. "Going the Distance," which stars Drew Barrymore and on-again/off-again love interest Justin Long, made $6.9 million.

Adam B. Vary of EW

With one more day to go, it appears The American will end up triumphant for the four-day Labor Day weekend....

Final numbers are unveiled tomorrow

Next Up: Milla Jovovich and helmer Paul W.S. Anderson have the stage all to themselves with the sequel Resident Evil: Afterlife as the only new wide release...