AceShowbiz -

Two newcomers are competing hard on the top of North American Box Office. With a slightly higher opening gross, "The Last Exorcism" manages to prevent "Takers" from nabbing the first place. The Eli Roth-produced movie about a possessed girl collects $20.4 million, while the crime action thriller rakes in $20.5 million.

"We've had two weeks of films being all stacked up very closely to one another, and that's a really tight margin between these two," Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, says about the chart in the last two weeks. "But it's sort of a battle in a marketplace that really isn't setting the world on fire."

"The Expendables", which has topped the chart for two straight weeks, is now pushed down to the third place, adding $9.5 million cume. "Eat, Pray, Love" also drops two places from the second to the fourth with $6.8 million haul. Meanwhile, "The Other Guys" stays strong despite the coming of newcomers, maintaining its last week's position on the fifth with $6.3 million gross.

Bad performance is shown by former top grosser "Avatar". The extended version which is added with 8-minute never-before-seen scenes does not manage to lure moviegoers back to Pandora and the re-release debuts on the twelfth spot with $4 million cume.

Though so, 20th Century Fox seemingly has prepared for this as Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston states, "There is no unhappy attached to 'Avatar,' because it's the greatest. It's always done business. It's the biggest picture in history. People bought tickets everywhere this weekend. There's no bad." He adds, "We did this for the fans."

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for August 27-29:

1. "Takers" - $20.5 million
2. "The Last Exorcism" - $20.4 million
3. "The Expendables" - $9.5 million
4. "Eat, Pray, Love" - $6.8 million
5. "The Other Guys" - $6.3 million
6. "Vampires Suck" - $5.2 million
7. "Inception" - $4.9 million
8. "Nanny McPhee Returns" - $4.7 million
9. "The Switch" - $4.6 million
10. "Piranha 3-D" - $4.3 million

UPDATE: When the final figures came out on Monday, August 30, "The Last Exorcism" dropped one slot to the second. Hence, it swapped place with "Takers", which now secured the first position on the chart.