The box office after seven weekends of low sales has seen some money. Boosting the cumulative theatrical intake by 34 % compared to last year was Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s comedy Burn After Reading, which led a team of four major new releases to a higher than anticipated opening.  

Sunday estimates said Burn After Reading grossed an impressive $ 19.4 million. Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, a box-office tracking firm said, "If we had done another down weekend, that would have been two months and people would have started to use the’s’ word. And in this town nobody wants to say slump."

For filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen who snagged the Oscar last year for "No Country for Old Men", this was the best debut ever. Of their 13 previous movies The Ladykillers with Tom Hanks grossed $12.6 million on its debut in 2004 and 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty brought in $ 12.5 million. Jack Foley, distribution head for Focus Films said "Better than our expectations."

According to Media by Numbers estimates, the box-office total with four new films filling theaters over the weekend will be about $105 million which is considered to be a respectable amount.

“The Ladykillers” despite its impressive opening did not fare well later and made $40 million domestically. Foley, when asked said his studio was in no fear of a repeat happening with “Burn After Reading”. "This film did not just play to the smart, Coenesque group that always comes out to see their movies," he said. "They have really expanded their base."

The good opening that the dark spy comedy with Brad Pitt and George Clooney got would have been welcome for the two stars. Other than the response that Ocean’s got, Brad had Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2005 while George Clooney had the Perfect Storm in 2000 as earlier bankable movies to their credit.

At number two was “Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys” banking $18 million, a tad lower than Perry’s consistent $20 million earlier."The Tyler Perry brand pretty much guarantees a solid opening weekend," Dergarabedian said. "He may be one of the most constant and most bankable filmmakers out there."

Coming in at number 3 was Righteous Kill, a Robert De Niro-Al Pacino reunion movie, which grossed $16.5 million. "That is probably better than expected," Dergarabedian said. "People still want to see De Niro and Pacino in the same film."

At number 4 was The Women which grossed the least at $10.1 million in 3000 theaters. The movie was a remake of a 1939 classic, with an all-female cast that included Meg Ryan and Annette Bening. "I think it shows that women really responded to the marketing of the film," Picturehouse President Bob Berney said. "It's a capper to a strong summer for women's films."

The House Bunny came in at number 5 with $4.3 million and Tropic Thunder with $4.2 million was number 6. This was the first weekend in nearly two months that saw the box office revenues inch up bringing some cheer no doubt to Hollywood.