Even though critics were not so excited about The Coen Brothers’ new film, especially after the highly praised and multi-award winner “No Country For Old Men” they released last year, apparently viewers were intrigued and they were driven to theaters by curiosity.

That last thing didn’t kill the cat this time, but payed off with $19.4 million in ticket sales for "Burn After Reading." The Coens’s success also meant a boost for the whole industry, as this particular weekend managed to be the first one going up, rather than down, like all the other ones in the past two months.

In fact, after extremely low scores last weekend, with only $7.8 million weekend earnings for "Bangkok Dangerous,” starring Nicolas Cage, the lowest in 7 years, this weekend managed to boost the cumulative theatrical take by nearly 34 percent over the same frame a year ago.

Aside from the much-talked-about black comedy “Burn After Reading,” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and John Malkovich, to name only three of the main reasons for such high rates, there were other movies to ride along.

Naturally, “Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys," starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard didn’t need much publicity and critical acclaim in order to sell tickets (Lionsgate didn't even screen the movie for the media before it opened). The movie debuted at No. 2 with $18 million probably due to the constant viewers that know what to expect from Mr. Perry and keep coming back for more.

The new film starring a winning team, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, "Righteous Kill," opened at No. 3 with $16.5 million, while No. 4 brought a surprising $10.1 million for Picturehouse's "The Women," starring Meg Ryan and Annette Bening in a remake of George Cukor's 1939 comedy-drama.

According to Media by Numbers estimates, the box-office total will be over $100 million, which proves that the good old stars like DeNiro, Al Pacino, Clooney and Ryan are still on top, bringing the movie-lovers to the theaters and saving the whole movie-business.