As expected, the action-fantasy Resident Evil: Afterlife was the top finisher in the weekend’s U.S. movie box offices sweepstakes. The film took in an estimated $27.7 million, an OK number in a weekend in which it was the only big new release and overall receipts were down in comparison with last year. The film did well at its 3D screenings.

Second and third were the crime film Takers and the George Clooney espionage thriller The American, with mundane receipts of $6.1 million and  $5.9 million, respectively.

The lackluster overall performance at the movie box office should come as no surprise, as this is a time of year when Hollywood dumps products that it figures cannot compete in the more lucrative summer and Christmas seasons.

The fact that the titles of this low-status week’s top ten releases include the words Afterlife, Pray, and Exorcist probably tell us something about how highly Hollywood values religion. The days of post-Passion Hollywood religious fervor—motivated, of course, by the fact that religious-themed films tend to do very well at the box office—appear to be long gone.