'Inception' Makes It a Three-Peat at the Box Office

By Moviefone Editors Posted Aug 1st 2010 05:59PM

Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard in 'Inception'

Guess people really do need to see it again after all. 'Inception' triumphed at the box office for a third weekend in a row -- only the third movie this year to do that after 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Shrek Forever After.' It won despite the addition this week of three new wide-release movies, one of which ('Dinner for Schmucks') did very well, opening strongly in second place, as the other two ('Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore' and 'Charlie St. Cloud') fell by the wayside.

'Inception,' which really hasn't had a slow day since it opened on July 16, won this week's contest with an estimated $27.5 million. Despite competition from the new releases and from fellow action attraction 'Salt,' its business fell only a third from last weekend. Thanks in large part to repeat business from viewers trying to untangle its plot, the Christopher Nolan sci-fi thriller has grossed $193.3 million in 17 days, with the $200 million mark likely to fall Monday or Tuesday.

'Schmucks,' opening in 2,911 venues, wasn't the widest new release of the week (that would be 'Cats & Dogs), but it was the best reviewed. The comedy's estimated $23.3 million debut fell just shy of the $25.2 million opening of Steve Carell's last live-action comedy, April's 'Date Night,' but it still did very well considering how much competition there was (including from Carell's own cartoon 'Despicable Me,' still going strong in its fourth week). For Paul Rudd, however, $23.3 million represents a career-high debut as a leading man.

'Salt' held up well, finishing third even though it lost nearly half of last week's business. It took in an estimated $19.3 million, for a 10-day total of $70.8 million. 'Despicable Me,' despite a lot of competition from other family films, remained the top kid-friendly choice, losing just a third of last week's business to take in another $15.5 million, good for fourth place on the chart.

The full top 10:
1. 'Inception,' $27.5 million (3,545 screens), $193.3 million total
2. 'Dinner for Schmucks,' $23.3 million (2,911), new release
3. 'Salt,' $19.3 million (3,612), $70.8 million
4. 'Despicable Me,' $15.5 million (3,602), $190.3 million
5. 'Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,' $12.5 million (3,705), new release
6. 'Charlie St. Cloud,' $12.1 million (2,718), new release
7. 'Toy Story 3,' $59.0 million (2,105), $389.7 million
8. 'Grown Ups,' $4.5 million (2,269), $150.7 million
9. 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice,' $4.3 million (2,524), $51.9 million
10. 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,' $4.0 million (2,334), $288.1 million

Tags: inception

Comments

(6)

Sunday 01 August

By John F.C. Taylor

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This may have been #1 for the 3rd week, but I think it says more about the lack of quality choices at the theatres rather than how good this was.

By ginny

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I hated this movie, Too hard to follow.And Leo Decaprio played the same guy from Shutter island.A dream in a dream , in a dream...Whatever!

By Apostate

@ John C.Taylor: Point taken,but I think that the movie's actually as good as advertised,despite its somewhat convoluted premise.

Monday 02 August

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By james bohler

Inception was a terrible movie, the part I saw. I left and got my money back half way thru. Maybe no one wants to say it because of its star

By K

Well, you saw the worst part then. I admit that I found the first half to be very boring. Luckily, it was way better during the second half, and I'm glad I sat through it. It averaged out to be a decent movie. I thought each of the actors did a decent job at their character portrayals, especially Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I highly doubt that everyone is raving about it, because they're afraid of offending Leonardo DiCaprio.

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