'Inception' Tops US Weekend B-O Again

JULY 26, 2010 - Sci-fi thriller Inception remains the most popular film in North America over the weekend. Angelina Jolie's new action pic Salt had to settle for second place but the spy thriller still generated a healthy opening.

Declining by a slim 31%, Inception topped the charts once again with an estimated US$43.5 million rocketing its 10-day tally to US$143.7M. It was the second lowest drop witnessed all year for a wide release in its sophomore frame and put the Leonardo DiCaprio hit on track to break the US$250 million mark and possibly the US$300 mil barrier as well. Playing in 3,792 theatres, including 197 IMAX sites, the mind-bending film averaged a muscular US$11,473.

Inception has an incredible road ahead of it. Word-of-mouth is amazing, repeat business is solid, competition over the coming weeks is not too fierce, and midweek sales have been enormous. It may even extend its streak to three weeks at Number One. The hold was especially impressive given the arrival of another star-driven action thriller in Salt.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for July 23-25, 2010 weekend, in terms of rank, Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo.

1. Inception (WB) $43.3 million ($143.6 million) 2

2. Salt (Sony) $36.5 million ($36.5 mil) 1

3. Despicable Me (Universal) $24.1 million ($161.7 mil) 3

4. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (BV) $9.6 million ($42.6 million) 2

5. Toy Story 3 (BV) $9.0 million ($379.5 million) 6