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The summer movie season came to a typically quiet close over the weekend. The American led the way with a standard-issue George Clooney debut, Machete had an average late summer action movie launch, while Going the Distance stalled. Overall business, though, was up five percent from the same timeframe last year.

The American earned an estimated $13 million at 2,823 locations for a $16.1 million tally since opening Wednesday. That was much more than recent Labor Day adult thrillers The Constant Gardener and Traitor, though the movie's attendance was mid-pack among assasssin-themed pictures. Most of Geroge Clooney's recent vehicles have opened in the same range as The American, including The Men Who Stare at Goats, Leatherheads, Michael Clayton and Syriana. As quiet as The American may seem, it's on track to having one of the biggest Labor Day openings ever. Distributor Focus Features reported that The American's audience was primarily aged 35 years and older and that there was a near even male/female split.

Last weekend's top draw, Takers, came in second with an estimated $11.5 million. It was down a normal 44 percent, and its cumulative take grew to $37.9 million in ten days.

Though it was first on Friday, Machete lost steam faster than the other titles and wound up in third with an estimated $11.3 million at 2,670 locations. It had a stronger start than Gamer from the same weekend last year, and it wasn't far behind its source, the box office bust Grindhouse. However, it did less than half the business of director Robert Rodriguez last straight-forward action picture, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Distributor 20th Century Fox's research showed that 55 percent of Machete's audience was male, 55 percent was 25 years and older, and 60 percent was Latino.

The Last Exorcism was cast aside in its second weekend, falling harder than average for a supernatural horror movie. It was off 62 percent to an estimated $7.6 million, and its total rose to $32.5 million in ten days. The percentage drop was close to The Fourth Kind and Exorcist: The Beginning.

With an estimated $6.9 million start at 3,030 locations, Going the Distance isn't in it for the long haul. The romantic comedy had one of the weakest debuts on record for its genre, especially considering the size of its release. Even smaller releases like The Switch and Love Happens made more. Going the Distance's audience was 66 percent female and 77 percent over 25 years and older (and 52 percent over 35 years old), according to distributor Warner Bros.

For more analysis on The American, Machete and Going the Distance analysis, click here to read the Weekend Briefing.

Full four-day Labor Day weekend estimates will be reported here Monday morning.

Related Story
• Weekend Briefing: 'Machete,' 'American' Hack Into Labor Day

Last Weekend
• 'Takers,' 'Exorcism' Possess Top Two Spots

This Timeframe in Past Years:
• 2009 - 'Final Destination' Clings to Labor Day Lead
• 2008 - 'Bangkok Dangerous' Tops Weekend with Small Opening
• 2007 - '3:10 to Yuma' Arrives at Top Spot
• 2006 - 'Covenant' Hovers Over Weak Weekend
• 2005 - 'Exorcism' Torments Top Spot, Sticks It to 'The Man'

Related Charts
• Weekend Box Office Results
• 2010 Grosses

Texas probing Google over search results

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The attorney general of the US state of Texas has opened an inquiry into whether Internet giant Google manipulates search results.

Google disclosed the antitrust probe in a blog post late Friday following a report by technology website SearchEngineLand.com on the investigation by the Texas authorities.

"We recognize that as Google grows, we're going to face more questions about how our business works," Google's deputy general counsel Don Harrison said.

"As Search Engine Land first reported, we've recently been approached by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office, which is conducting an antitrust review of Google," Harrison said.

"We look forward to answering their questions because we're confident that Google operates in the best interests of our users," he said.

According to Search Engine Land, Abbott has been investigating since July whether Google is "manipulating its paid and editorial results in a way that violates antitrust laws."

The probe stems from complaints by three rival search companies -- Foundem, a British price comparison site; New York-based SourceTool, a website run by parent company TradeComet; and Ohio-based myTriggers.

"They claim that Google's algorithms demote their site because they are a direct competitor to our search engine," Harrison said. "The reality is that we don't discriminate against competitors."

He said that "given that not every website can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it's unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality websites will be unhappy with their ranking."

European regulators opened an informal investigation in February into similar allegations from three Web companies including Foundem.

Harrison suggested Google rival Microsoft was behind the various complaints.

He said Foundem was backed by an organization funded largely by Microsoft and that both TradeComet and myTriggers were represented by Microsoft antitrust attorneys.

The Google counsel also noted that a federal judge earlier this year dismissed a private antitrust lawsuit against Google filed by TradeComet.

Microsoft and Yahoo! teamed up last year in a bid to rival Google in search but have made only slight inroads against the Mountain View, California-based company which controls around 65 percent of the US search market.

Obama calling for more infrastructure spending

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and runways that would cost at least $50 billion.

The infrastructure investments are one part of a package of targeted proposals the White House is expected to announce in hopes of jump-starting the economy ahead of the November election. Obama will outline the infrastructure proposal Monday at a Labor Day event in Milwaukee.

While the proposal calls for investments over six years, the White House said spending would be front-loaded with an initial $50 billion to help create jobs in the near future.

The goals of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, enough to go coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of airport runways, while also installing a new air navigation system designed to reduce travel times and delays.

Obama will also call for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects.

Administration officials wouldn't say what the total cost of the infrastructure investments would be, but did say the initial $50 billion represents a significant percentage. Officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal.

Obama made infrastructure investments a central part of the $814 billion stimulus Congress passed last year, but with that spending winding down, the economy's growth has slowed. Officials said this infrastructure package differs from the stimulus because it's aimed at long-term growth, while still focusing on creating jobs in the short-term.

In a Labor Day interview on CBS'"Early Show," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the plan Obama was to unveil Monday would "put construction workers, welders, electricians back to work ... folks that have been unemployed for a long time."

With the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.6 percent, and polls showing the midterm elections could be dismal for Democrats, the president has promised to unveil a series of new measures on the economy.

In addition to Monday's announcement in Milwaukee, Obama will travel to Cleveland Wednesday to pitch a $100 billion proposal to increase and make permanent research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said.

While the idea is popular in Congress, coming up with offsetting tax increases or spending cuts has been a stumbling block. Similar to his proposal to pay for the infrastructure investments, Obama will ask lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations to pay for the plan.

Other stimulus measures the administration is considering include extending a law passed in March that exempts companies that hire unemployed workers from paying Social Security taxes on those workers through December. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed extending the exemption an additional six months.

Obama is also continuing to prod the Senate to pass the small business bill that calls for about $12 billion in tax breaks and a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending. Republicans have likened the bill to the unpopular bailout of the financial industry. And the president wants to make permanent the portion of George W. Bush's tax cuts affecting the middle class.

Wary of the public's concern over rising deficits, the administration insists a second stimulus plan, similar to last year's $814 billion bill, is not in the works.