After a dispiriting couple of weeks at the box office, things picked back up this weekend with four new films debuting in the double digits–including a No. 1 grab for the Coen brothers, the first of their career. The Coens' Burn After Reading earned the highest debut of the filmmakers' careers with a $19.4 million take. Opening in the fewest number of theaters of the four new releases this week, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys bowed in at No. 2 with $18 million, beating out the $16.5 million take of Righteous Kill, which opened in 1,000 or so more theaters. The final new contender, the much-derided (here and elsewhere) The Women, took in $10.1 million to land it at a respectable No. 4–though its next closest competitor was the 4-weeks-old The House Bunny, which took No. 5 with $4.3 million.
Tropic Thunder hit the $100 million mark this weekend with a $4.2 million take, landing it at No. 6 and making it the second longest lasting film in the top 10. The longest lasting, of course, is The Dark Knight, which took the No. 7 spot in its incredible ninth week near the top with $4 million. Last week's winner-by-default, Bangkok Dangerous, slipped to No. 8 with $2.4 million, a nearly 70 percent drop from its debut weekend. Traitor, at No. 9 with $2.3 million, and Death Race, at No. 10 with $2 million, round out the top 10.