‘The Butler’ stays on top of box office with $17 million

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NEW YORK (AP) — “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” served up another box office-topping weekend, earning $17 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That was enough to lead all films on a late August weekend known as a dumping ground for studios following their summer blockbusters and before the start of the fall moviegoing season. Daniel’s historical drama about a long-serving White House butler starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, last weekend opened with $24.6 million for the Weinstein Co.

Two new releases failed to catch on. The teen fantasy “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” adapted from the popular young adult book series, opened tepidly in third with $9.3 million for Sony Screen Gems.

Edgar Wright’s pub-crawl-gone-wrong comedy “The World’s End” opened with $8.9 million for Focus Features.

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