Further boosting its profile, Lee Daniels' The Butler topped the box office in its second weekend with $17 million, pushing its total to $52.3 million and becoming Daniel's most successful film in North America. 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 modestly budgeted action-comedy The World's End fared nicely as it opened to $8.9 million from only 1,549 theaters, compared to 3,118 for Mortal Instruments and 2,437 for horror pic You're Next.
– Lee Daniels' The Butler might have fared very poorly in one Kentucky theater, but it was the winner nationwide for a second week in a row, pulling in $17 million on a sleepy end-of-summer weekend. We're the Millers also held steady, with a $13.5 million haul that gave it the No. 2 spot; the Hollywood Reporter notes that the surprise hit has now earned $91.7 million in a "major victory" for New Line Cinema. Rounding out the top four were Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, with what the AP calls a "tepid" $9.3 million, and The World's End, with $8.9 million. Down in the basement: Ashton Kutcher's Jobs, which came in No. 12 in its second week out, with $3 million. It's earned $12.1 million thus far.