'The American' tops weekend box office

LOS ANGELES – George Clooney's hitman tale "The American" took down Robert Rodriguez's revenge romp "Machete" at the box office over the long U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend.

"The American" debuted with $16.6 million to grab a victory over "Machete," which opened in second place with $14.1 million, according to final studio numbers Tuesday.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The American," Focus Features, $16,662,333, 2,823 locations, $5,902 average, $19,806,118, one week.

2. "Machete," Fox, $14,102,888, 2,670 locations, $5,282 average, $14,102,888, one week.

3. "Takers," Sony, $13,535,992, 2,206 locations, $6,136 average, $39,986,817, two weeks.

4. "The Last Exorcism," Lionsgate, $8,750,191, 2,874 locations, $3,045 average, $33,522,575, two weeks.

5. "Going the Distance," Warner Bros., $8,508,290, 3,030 locations, $2,808 average, $8,508,290, one week.

6. "The Expendables," Lionsgate, $8,317,824, 3,398 locations, $2,448 average, $93,885,594, four weeks.

7. "The Other Guys," Sony, $6,664,628, 2,607 locations, $2,556 average, $108,130,839, five weeks.

8. "Eat Pray Love," Sony, $6,175,610, 2,663 locations, $2,319 average, $70,279,644, four weeks.

9. "Inception," Warner Bros., $5,884,355, 1,704 locations, $3,453 average, $278,457,609, eight weeks.

10. "Nanny McPhee Returns," Universal, $4,806,685, 2,708 locations, $1,775 average, $23,672,660, three weeks.

11. "Despicable Me," Universal, $4,047,680, 1,600 locations, $2,530 average, $241,498,630, nine weeks.

12. "Vampires Suck," Fox, $3,941,945, 2,434 locations, $1,620 average, $33,240,602, three weeks.

13. "The Switch," Miramax, $3,917,061, 1,885 locations, $2,078 average, $22,292,061, three weeks.

14. "Piranha 3D," Weinstein Co., $3,010,152, 1,789 locations, $1,683 average, $23,105,959, three weeks.

15. "Avatar: Special Edition," Fox, $2,961,801, 812 locations, $3,648 average, $758,247,840, two weeks.

16. "Toy Story 3," Disney, $2,735,035, 1,520 locations, $1,799 average, $408,890,408, 12 weeks.

17. "Lottery Ticket," Warner Bros., $2,717,275, 1,310 locations, $2,074 average, $21,074,972, three weeks.

18. "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World," Universal, $1,985,220, 807 locations, $2,460 average, $29,267,130, four weeks.

19. "Salt," Sony, $1,600,665, 705 locations, $2,270 average, $115,561,662, seven weeks.

20. "Get Low," Sony, $1,561,454, 560 locations, $2,788 average, $5,760,386, six weeks.