The madcap comedy starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and John Malkovich raked in US$7 million more than the writing-directing duo's last box-office hit, the 2004 comedy The Ladykillers, according to box office tracker Media by Numbers.
Burn After Reading's success comes just a year after the brothers gained widespread acclaim for the drama No Country for Old Men, which won four Academy Awards and grossed US$73.3 million.
Their Oscar credentials and the star-studded cast combined to make Burn After Reading a hit, said Jack Foley, president of distribution for Focus Features. "The Coens have broken into more commercial territory with this film," Foley said.
"They've become more of a household name."
The weekend's three other new releases also turned in solid performances. Writer-director Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard in a drama about two families from different social classes, debuted at No. 2 with US$18 million.
Five out of six of Perry's films have opened at No. 1 or No. 2 on their opening weekends, said Steve Rothenberg, president of domestic distribution for Lionsgate.
Rothenberg said he expected The Family That Preys to continue to play well over upcoming weekends as Perry's movies typically do. "It should have good legs," he said.
Overture Film's Righteous Kill opened at No. 3 with US$16.5 million, proving that A-list stars Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino still draw fans. The movie played to a wide range of ages and both genders, said Kyle Davies, Overture's executive vice president of theatrical distribution.
"The primary appeal is to see these two legends together," he said.
Picturehouse's The Women - starring Meg Ryan and Annette Bening in a remake of George Cukor's 1939 comedy-drama - was No. 4 with US$10.1 million.
The weekend's total box-office draw should surpass US$100 million, breaking a seven-week slide in ticket revenue, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers.
Last weekend was the slowest moviegoing weekend in five years, with just US$67.6 million. He attributed the uptick to the variety in genres that studios offered this weekend.
"Audiences want a lot of choice," he said. "Each of these movies had a particular demographic. This was the cinematic equivalent of a magazine rack."
The next seven films in the top dozen were holdovers, grossing US$4.3 million or less. The Batman sequel The Dark Knight continued to rack up its gross with another US$4 million, for total box office revenue of US$517.7 million to date.
Last weekend's top-ranked Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicolas Cage dropped to eighth place with US$2.4 million.
