Box Office: 'Takers' steals the weekend from 'Last Exorcism' for No. 1

T.I. has a lot to celebrate after "Takers'" opening weekend.

Credit: Screen Gems

Are Chris Brown and T.I. primed for a comeback?  The hip hop music stars haven't had much chart success since their personal troubles roadblocked their careers last year.  The big screen, however, might have given them both a new lease on life.  Initial estimates had the duo's heist thriller "Takers" coming in second to the Lionsgate horror flick "The Last Exorcism" on Sunday, but when the actuals were released today, "Takers" overtake "Exorcism" to win the weekend.

"Takers," which also stars Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and Zoe Saldana, found $20,512,304 from just 2,206 theaters.  That's pretty impressive any time of year and more so in the dog days of August.  "Last Exorcism," on the other hand, ended up with $20,366,613 in 2,874 theaters. The difference in the very close race was just $145,691.  Lionsgate won't be crying at all over the massive opening for the $2 million budgeted thriller, but that is significantly lower than the $22.3 million estimate the studio initially provided. 

Even though critics gave it mostly favorable reviews, "Exorcism" didn't score will in post-screening polls with moviegoers which means it probably has a short shelf life.  "Takers" had a minuscule Friday to Saturday increase which is a tad worrisome for Screen Gems, but it could still perform well against "The American," "Machete" and "Going the Distance" over the Labor Day weekend.