Box office goes to “Town”

Four films went at it this weekend and much to the box office’s benefit. Business was up about 32 percent as the Ben Affleck-directed “The Town” took top honors as one of those rare super-successful crime dramas.

Of the other new entries, “Easy A” gave Emma Stone some serious pull in future film contract negotiations as the teen comedy earned nearly $18 million, much higher than average for the genre and time of year. Oppositely, “Devil,” the M. Night Shyamalan brainchild, did below average for horror films in September/October.

1. The Town – $23.8 M (weekend) … $23.8 M (gross)
2. Easy A – $17.7 M … $17.7 M
3. Devil – $12.2 M … $12.2 M
4. Resident Evil: Afterlife – $10 M … $43.8 M
5. Alpha and Omega – $9.1 M … $9.1 M
6. Takers – $3 M … $52.3 M
7. The American – $2.6 M … $32.7 M
8. Machete – $1.7 M … $24.3 M
9. The Other Guys – $1.97 M … $152.4 M
10. Inception – $1.96 M … $285.1 M

Animated film “Alpha and Omega” had a weak opening for Lionsgate and new production studio Crest Animation. The film finished below second-week film “Resident Evil: Afterlife,” which fell more than 60 percent from last weekend.

“Inception” and “The Other Guys” remain the strongest of the summer holdouts, leapfrogging a bunch of other films to stay in the top ten. The former inches its way slowly to $300 million domestically but might run out of steam just short of the milestone.