Box Office - 'American' Wins Slow Holiday Weekend

There were conflicting reports about the Friday box office, some saying The American won with $3.9 million and others saying Machete got the nod with the same amount. It really only matters for that one day, I guess, because in either case, the margin of victory was about $100,000.

However, it looks like The American will win the traditional three-day weekend, even though there's a big discrepancy in the numbers for Machete depending on where you look, and with Labor Day counting on the tail end, the four-day, as well. And since it was released on Wednesday, The American gets the rare six-day weekend to tout, even though the overall numbers still won't be that big. It's a surprise that it will win, though, because there wasn't nearly the amount of attention paid to this film as some of George Clooney's projects and because Machete had so much buzz. The American, according to the Sunday estimates, will draw nearly $13 million over the three-day period, and going back to Wednesday, that's a little more than $16 million. Counting Labor Day, The American will almost be in the black in terms of recouping the budget costs.

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Box Office - 'American' Tops 'Machete' on Slow Friday

Another internet-created movie phenomenon will remain exactly that: Machete took a leisurely stroll on Friday, and while it could still be the top movie of the weekend, it won't be a big number at all. With only $3.8 million on Friday, the exploitation flick lost to George Clooney's The American, which really isn't trying all that hard.

Clooney's latest opened on Wednesday and has been number one ever since, but its overall total through three days is only about $7 million, including $3.9 million yesterday. Again, that's a narrow victory over Machete, but it's doing slightly better than was expected and the opposite is true of the Robert Rodriguez movie. It is Labor Day weekend, as you know, and that's almost always a bad frame for the studios, which you may not have known. Whichever movie takes the crown will be lucky to get to $14 million, a bad result for a number one movie.

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Movie Review - 'Machete'

Machete Starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, and Robert De Niro Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis Rated R

The problem with Machete is that, underneath the hokum, there's a real story trying to get out. The timing is right for such a story, so it's a real shame that the venue is simply all wrong. Complicating matters is that, with a hefty chunk of time spent on the more serious plot than anyone could have expected, the fun of what Machete could be is also compromised a little too much. The end result is two half-filled bags, two sets of unmet expectations, and another curiosity for director Robert Rodriguez. The history of this project, in case you don't know, is rooted in Grindhouse, the exploitation double feature Rodriguez co-assembled with Quentin Tarantino. Rodriguez' Planet Terror was pretty entertaining; Death Proof is Tarantino's worst film. But Grindhouse was developed as a full experience of the low-budget, fairly amateur films of the early 1970s filled with bare breasts, bare storylines, and the right to bear arms, so the double feature included some trailers like Werewolf Women of the SS (directed by Rob Zombie), Don't from Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright, and Machete. In that trailer, we learn that Machete (Danny Trejo), used to be a Mexical federale who was out for revenge after his family was murdered by drug lords. "They messed with the wrong Mexican," warned the phony trailer, only in stronger terms. Turns out, the trailers were bigger items of discussion than either main attraction, and there has even been talk about making more of them into feature-length films since 2007. Rodriguez went away to write a script expanding on the trailer, hired Ethan Maniquis to co-direct (for reasons he'd have to explain), and some three years later, here we are. Rodriguez has kept the elements from the trailer and has wrapped them around an immigration story. Since this was filmed a year ago, it pre-dates the current debate about the Arizona immigration enforcement bill, but there are echoes of that tension throughout the film. And that's why, in one sense there's an exploitation aspect to this film, because on some key points, Machete is not too far from reality. But presented the way the film is, it makes those points stand out for the wrong reasons.

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Fearless Forecast: 'Machete' Slices 'Em Up

Playing off the hotly debated immigration story, particularly in the southwest, where four of the nation's largest cities are directly impacted by federal and state tugs-of-war, Machete is, if nothing else, being released at about the right time.

Ideally, this would have hit maybe six to eight weeks ago, but immigration is still a big headline and it's the subplot of Machete, so the interest will likely be pretty high in those large cities - Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston - as well as slightly smaller urban areas throughout the region. Let's also not forget that R-rated action just scored a major win with The Expendables, so that could play into this film's success, too.

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Another Blood-Soaked 'Machete' Red Band Trailer

Here we go: Another Red Band trailer for Machete. The film opens tomorrow and the reviews are mixed, which, in other words, means they're good enough. Remember, there was a rumor that the Weinsteins passed because they thought the movie was impossible to release, and Fox put it on Labor Day weekend, a historically bad destination.

But the outlook is probably rosy for Machete this weekend, which will open in 2,500 theaters. Of course, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the most recent internet-driven "must-see," only made $10 million when it opened in 2,800 theaters, so it's certainly no guarantee that this will blow up. However, if you want blood, bad words, and bad women, it might be the remedy. Here the unrated stuff:

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