By Franck Tabouring
Weekend of September 12 – 14, 2008

Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Burn After Reading” beat Tyler Perry at the North American box office this weekend with $19.4 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt and John Malkovich, the crime comedy delivered the best opening ever for a Coen brothers film, surpassing the $12.6 million earned by “The Ladykillers” in 2004.

Tyler Perry’s “The Family That Preys debuted in second place with $18 million, which is less than the opening weekend grosses of his previous films “Meet the Browns” ($20 million) and “Why Did I Get Married?” ($21.3 million).

Meanwhile, Jon Avnet’s crime drama “Righteous Kill” opened at No. 3 with $16.5 million. Starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, the film follows two veteran NYPD detectives struggling to hunt down a mysterious serial killer.

“The Women,” the weekend’s other nationwide release, ranked fourth with $10.1 million in ticket sales. The Diane English-directed comedy stars Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing as four best friends who help support each other in times of misery. Eva Mendes co-stars.

At No. 5, Fred Wolf’s “The House Bunny” collected $4.3 million, lifting its domestic total to $42.1 million after four weeks in release. Sony’s Anna Faris vehicle tells the story of a former Playboy bunny who becomes the housemother of a geeky sorority.

Slipping to sixth place was Ben Stiller’s action comedy “Tropic Thunder,” which picked up $4.1 million to reach a total gross of $102.9 million after a strong five-week run. Following at No. 7 was “The Dark Knight,” which brought its cumulative gross to $517.6 million after this weekend’s earnings of $4 million.

Last week’s box office champion “Bangkok Dangerous” dropped all the way to eighth place, taking home $2.4 million. Starring Nicholas Cage as a hit man who falls in love during a crucial assignment, the film brought its domestic total of $12.5 million.

Two films rounded out the top 10: Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s “Traitor” with a weekend gross of $2.1 million and a cumulative of $20.7 million, and Paramount’s Paul W.S. Anderson-directed “Death Race,” which jumped to a total of $33.1 million. 

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)