Although it lacked Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan and Robert De Niro, The American did have two things Machete didn’t: George Clooney and a box office win.

Despite only grossing $13.2 million over the weekend ($16.3 million since Wednesday), the Focus Features entry hit its target. The movie - which was produced for approximately $20 million - managed to top the Robert Rodriguez-actioner by less than $2 million. The American also became Clooney’s best opener - outside of any Brad Pitt-related project - since The Perfect Storm in 2000.

Machete, based on a trailer included in the film Grindhouse, came very close to matching the earlier movie. The Danny Trejo starrer debuted to a modest $11.4 million—about $200,000 short of Grindhouse‘s premiere in 2007.

1. The American, Focus Features, $13,177,790 (avg. $4668)
2. Machete, 20th Century Fox, $11,416,164 (avg. $4276)
3. Takers, Sony, $10,876,732 (avg. $4931)
4. The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate, $7,341,976 (avg. $2555)
5. Going the Distance, Warner Bros., $6,884,964 (avg. $2272)
6. The Expendables, Lionsgate, $6,620,133 (avg. $1948)
7. The Other Guys, Sony, $5,287,889 (avg. $2028)
8. Eat Pray Love, Sony, $4,800,758 (avg. $1803)
9. Inception, Warner Bros., $4,572,249 (avg. $2683)
10. Nanny McPhee Returns, Universal, $3,533,925 (avg. $1305)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)