Tarantino and Pitt Go to War With Hitler And Win...At Box Office

The new Quentin Tarantino/Brad Pitt war flick, "Inglourious Basterds", claimed victory at the box office this weekend, winning over latest releases such as "District 9" and "G.I. Joe."

With Tarantino as the director and Pitt as the lead, the film pulled in $37.6 in its debut weekend, recording Taratino's best opening ever. In 2004, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" opened at $25. 1 million.

Overseas, according to reports, "Basterds" pulled in another $27.5 million, giving its total a boost to $65.1 million worldwide.

In the film, a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Pitt) plot to take out Nazi leaders at a movie premiere during World War II, where every major Nazi officer is expected to be in attendance.

While Taratino landed another hit, his friend Robert Rodriguez didn't fare so well with his family comedy "Shorts", which debuted at #6 with just $6.6 million. The movie features a cast of kids in a series of loosely linked adventures centered on a magic rock that grants wishes.

Fox Atomic's comedy "Post Grad," where Alexis Bledel plays a college graduate who moves back home with her eccentric family after she's unable to land her dream job, tanked with $2.8 million, coming in at #10.

The previous weekend's top movie, Sony's sci-fi thriller "District 9," slipped to #2 with $18.9 million. So far, it's hit $73.5 million, and may be on its way to be a slow creeping $100 million hit.

According to the Associated Press, box office revenues were up for the third-straight weekend. Overall ticket sales were $134 million, up 27 percent compared to the same weekend last year.

Next weekend, the big releases will be "Halloween 2" and another installment of the "The Final Destination" series. Also, the comedy "Taking Woodstock" will be releases to a limited audience, starting Wednesday.

This weekend's top 10 is as follows:

1 - "Inglourious Basterds," $37.6 million.
2 - "District 9," $18.9 million.
3 - "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," $12.5 million.
4 - "The Time Traveler's Wife," $10 million.
5 - "Julie & Julia," $9 million.
6 - "Shorts," $6.6 million.
7 - "G-Force," $4.2 million.
8 - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $3.5 million.
9 - "The Ugly Truth," $2.9 million.
10 - "Post Grad," $2.8 million.