The Coen Bros. helped give the box office a needed Autumn boost with their comedy Burn After Reading [1], which debuted at No. 1 with an estimated $19.4 million. It was a lucrative weekend overall, actually, with many of the week's new releases doing better than expected [2] despite a "crowded marketplace for adult-skewing films."

In second place came Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys [3] earning $18 million, followed by the Al Pacino-Robert De Niro reunion, Righteous Kill [4]. And despite unflattering reviews [5], even The Women [6] did alright over the weekend, coming in at No. 4 with an estimated $10 million followed by The House Bunny [7] in fifth place.

Alan Ball's Towelhead [8] also opened and "nabbed the best per- location average of the weekend." Finally, for those of you keeping track, The Dark Knight [9] is up another $4 million, putting its total domestic gross so far at an estimated [10] $517 million.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features [11]