The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
After three weeks at #1, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller Inception (Warner Bros.) was knocked out of the top position by the latest collaboration between Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay, the police comedy The Other Guys, co-starring Mark Wahlberg, which grossed an estimated $35.6 million in 3,651 theaters its opening weekend. Averaging roughly $9,700 per location, it’s Ferrell’s second-biggest opening weekend after Talladega Nights, also directed by McKay. The Other Guys is Sony’s fourth $35 million plus opening in a row this summer, which is quite impressive considering the generally down attitude towards the summer’s offerings.
Nolan’s Inception took second place with $18.6 million, down just 32% from last week, having grossed $227.7 million in four weeks, surpassing Batman Begins to make it Nolan’s second-highest grossing movie after 2008’s The Dark Knight. Internationally, the film added $46.6 million for an overseas total of $250 million and worldwide total of $477.7 million.
The third chapter in Disney’s on-going dance franchise, Step Up 3D failed to achieve the success of the previous two installments, with an estimated opening weekend gross of $15.5 million with heavy frontloading to its Friday opening of $6.6 million. That opening is down both from the original 2006 movie’s $20.6 million opening and the 2008 sequel’s $18.9 million opening.
Angelina Jolie’s spy thriller Salt (Sony) took in $11.1 million in its third weekend for fourth place with a total gross of $92 million. It’s currently set up to pass the $101 million gross of Gone in 60 Seconds, but it’s likely to stop short of the $130 million grossed by both Lara Croft Tomb Raider and Wanted. Salt added $16.9 million internationally and has reach $62.8 million in foreign markets.
Jay Roach’s dark comedy Dinner for Schmucks (Paramount), starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis, dropped 55% from its opening weekend to fifth place with $10.5 million and $46.7 million after ten days.
In sixth place, the animated family comedy Despicable Me crossed $200 million over the weekend with another $9.4 million. Its $209.4 million gross so far makes it the eighth-highest grossing movie of 2010, and it’s looking set to surpass DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon to become the third-highest animated movie of the year.
Warner Bros. CG talking animal comedy Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore dropped to seventh place with $6.9 million and $26.4 million total, while the drama Charlie St. Cloud (Universal) starring Zac Efron also took a hit in its second weekend, dropping 62% to $4.7 million for eighth place.
Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 (DisneyPixar) continues to edge closer to $400 million with another $3 million for ninth place and a total of $396 million domestically. The animated hit earned $29.4 million internationally over the weekend to push its total to $498.7 million and worldwide sum to $885.7 million.
Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features) rounded out the Top 10, having added another hundred theaters to pull in $2.6 million for a total gross of $14 million after just over a month.
The Top 10 grossed $118 million, down 6% from last year when Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount) won the weekend with $54 million, followed by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep as Julie & Julia (Sony) in 2nd with $20 million.
Opening in limited release, it was a battle of the coming-of-age films as Rob Reiner’s Flipped (Warner Bros.) grossed twice as much as Joel Schumacher’s Twelve (Hannover House) despite opening in five times fewer theaters. Flipped ended up with $234 thousand in 45 theaters compared to Twelve‘s $107 thousand in 231 theaters, the latter estimating a pitiful $463 per site. Flipped is scheduled to go wide on August 27.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
