LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The John Singleton revenge flick "Four Brothers" beat its cinematic siblings to take the top spot at the weekend box office.
However, the R-rated action film's three-day ticket sales of $20.7 million did little to stem a prolonged box office slump, which entered its third week after a brief respite.
The total box office take for the top 12 films was down 16 percent over the same weekend last year, when the horror movie "Alien vs. Predator" reaped a three-day gross of $38 million.
"It was a fairly unremarkable weekend at the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office-tracker Exhibitor Relations. "August usually is a slowdown month."
Box office revenues slumped for 19 straight weeks until being lifted briefly last month with the help of hits such as "Fantastic Four."
The supernatural thriller "The Skeleton Key," starring Kate Hudson, came in second with $15.8 million. The big screen remake of the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" fell 58 percent in its second week, but that was good enough for third place with $13 million.
The other debut in wide release, the gross-out sequel "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," finished a distant fifth with $9.4 million.
"Four Brothers," directed by Singleton and distributed by Paramount, stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 of OutKast) and Garrett Hedlund as adopted siblings reunited in grief and anger after their mother is slain.
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