-- from ABC News:

George Clooney outgunned his rivals at the Labor Day holiday weekend box office in North America with a low-caliber opening for his assassin drama "The American," as the lucrative summer moviegoing season wound down on a traditionally weak note.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "The American" earned $13 million during the three-day period beginning September 3; its tally stands at $16.1 million since Wednesday, when it got a two-day head-start on the competition...

Also new were 20th Century Fox's violent fantasy "Machete" at No. 3 with $11.3 million, and Warner Bros.' Drew Barrymore romantic comedy "Going the Distance" at No. 5 with just $6.9 million. Both opened on Friday.

"Machete," a bloody homage to 1970s B-movies using the immigration debate as a backdrop, stars character actor Danny Trejo as a Mexican assassin with a penchant for dispatching people with sharp objects. Robert Rodriguez directed with Ethan Maniquis. Fox said the audience was 60 percent Latino.

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