'Takers' Killed 'The Last Exorcism'

The real numbers are in and Takers has the highest-grossing film for the weekend ending August 29.

Takers took in an amazing $20.5 million from the box office, beating it’s rival, The Last Exorcism, by just a little less than $200,000.

The independently-produced crime drama originally drew attention for its diverse ensemble cast, including movie veteran Matt Dillon, franchise stars Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, and recent award-winners Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana. Takers also stars singer Chris Brown and rapper T.I. in their second and third major film roles.

Both artists also served as executive producers for the project, which was produced by Rainforest Films and T.I's Grand Hustle Films.

Box office estimates originally had Exorcist leading the weekend by $300,000 over Takers, bringing in $21.3 million. The numbers were close, but Takers, which went into theaters as the weekend’s underdog, came out on top. Rainforest Films co-founder Will Packer stated: “Hollywood expected us to do closer to $10 million since we were smaller and on far less screens.”

The cast, particularly Idris Elba, T.I. and Chris Brown, thanks all their Twitter followers, as they created a campaign where followers were encouraged to post pictures and tweets about the film.
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