Weekend Receipts: Recurring Dream Puts Inception at No. 1 Again

Not even the ethereal quality of Angelina Jolie could stop the dream police of Inception. For a second straight week, Christopher Nolan's blockbuster awoke on Sunday as the top movie in America. Click ahead for some weekend receipts.

1. Inception

Gross: $43,505,000 ($143,663,000)

Screens: 3,792 (PSA: $11,473)

Weeks: 2 (change: -30.7%)

It's the summer of repeat box office champions! Inception joins Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3 as movies that repeated as number one following their opening weekend -- though Inception held up considerably better than the other three. With just over $143 million already in the bank, Nolan's film is fulfilling its blockbuster promise. Here's hoping the sequel fares slightly better than The Matrix Reloaded.

2. Salt

Gross: $36,500,000 (new)

Screens: 3,612 (PSA: $10,105)

Weeks: new

The good news: There are no female stars who could get this gross in this genre without a major male co-star. The bad news: Jolie was able to score a $50 million opening weekend with Wanted. Yes, that was a (somewhat) known property and Salt is an original -- as original as its female Bourne conceit can be -- but it still feels slightly disappointing. Lest you forget, Wanted was Rated-R; Salt is PG-13. As usual, though, the story of Salt won't be written until weekend two and beyond. In the meantime, Jolie can take solace in the fact that the opening of Salt -- which was initially a Tom Cruise vehicle -- dominated the opening of Knight and Day.

3. Despicable Me

Gross: $24,1200,000 ($161,721,000)

Screens: 3,600 (PSA: $6,700)

Weeks: 3 (change: -26.5%)

Kids love those minions, huh? Despicable Me is performing like Toy Story 3-Lite and could threaten Shrek Forever After as the second biggest animated movie of 2010. In the wake of this windfall, expect Universal to greenlight Robin Hood 2 on a $450 million budget.

4. The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Gross: $9,685,000 ($42,643,000)

Screens: 3,504 (PSA: $2,764)

Weeks: 2 (change: -45%)

Well at least The Sorcerer's Apprentice only dropped 45 percent? Yeesh. Release the hounds on this one: Apprentice will pass the paltry $51 million of King Arthur -- producer Jerry Bruckheimer's previous Waterloo -- but barely...

5. Toy Story 3

Gross: $9,030,000 ($379,529,000)

Screens: 2,766 (PSA: $3,265)

Weeks: 6 (change: -24.7%)

Not that Disney cares! Toy Story 3 continues to bring in money hand over toy fist. The smash hit of the summer dropped 24 percent in its sixth week -- or to put it another way, held up better than even Despicable Me. It probably won't break Shrek 2's record, but does that even matter? Clearing $400 million and being the biggest hit of the year seems like quite enough to be happy about.

[Numbers via Box Office Guru]