Box Office: 'The Last Exorcism' triumphs?

What a close race this weekend at the North American box office! New releases "The Last Exorcism" and "Takers" battled for No. 1, and according to estimates, "Exorcism" took the lead with $21.3 million.

"Takers," however, came in close second with $21 million, so it will be interesting to see if this result stands once actuals arrive tomorrow. "Exorcism" scored an average of $7,411 per theater.

Either way, this is a huge performance by "Exorcism," a horror flick produced on a budget of a mere $1.8 million. As for "Takers," the heist film with Idris Elba and Matt Dillon, it only cost $20 million to make.

Not much has changed at the box office otherwise. "The Expendables" slipped to No. 3, earning $9.5 million for a total gross of $82 million. "Eat Pray Love" followed at No. 4 with $7 million for a $60.7 million total.

Staying put in fifth place was "The Other Guys," which bagged $6.6 million and lifted its cume to $99.3 million. "Vampires Suck" followed at No. 6, pulling $5.3 million for a cumulative gross of $27.9 million.

Meanwhile, "Inception" jumped back up to No. 7, generating $5.1 million for a total haul of $270.7 million. "Nanny McPhee Returns" followed with $4.7 million at No. 8, reaching a cume of $17 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were "The Switch," which brought its total to $16.4 million after weekend earnings of $4.6 million, and "Piranha 3D," which slipped to No. 10 with $4.3 million ($18.2 million total).

By the way, James Cameron's "Avatar: Special Edition" brought in $4 million from ticket sales at 812 locations. Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)

Update on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 8:09PM by Franck Tabouring

UPDATE: "TAKERS" beats "LAST EXORCISM" after all!