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]