Angelina Jolie's 'Salt' opens strong, comes in at #2.By Adam Rosenberg
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception"
Photo: Warner Bros.
The Box-Office Top Five
#1 "Inception" ($43.5 million)
#2 "Salt" ($36.5 million)
#3 "Despicable Me" ($24.1 million)
#4 "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" ($9.7 million)
#5 "Toy Story 3" ($9 million)
"Inception" proves for the second week in a row that dreams really do come true. Chris Nolan, who went on from the wildly original "Memento" in 2000 to do a string of adaptations and remakes — "Insomnia," "The Prestige" and two "Batman" films — is in command at the box office once again with his first completely original work in a decade. The Leonardo DiCaprio-starring head-scratcher of a sci-fi flick took in $43.5 million over the weekend, only a 31 percent dip from its $62.8 million opening weekend. Exceptionally strong ticket sales throughout the week send "Inception" into week number three with a worldwide box-office total of $227.7 million.
Not far behind is the Angelina Jolie-starring "Salt," with $36.5 million. The Phillip Noyce-directed action/thriller opened last Friday amidst solid reviews, and audiences came out in force over the weekend to see the superstar kick some tail. With a rumored budget of around $100 million and a number of foreign releases still to come, the movie's performance must have Sony pretty pleased, despite the #2 spot.
"Despicable Me" continues to attract moviegoers in its third week. The animated family comedy, which features voice work by Steve Carell, earned $24.1 million, a figure that is no doubt bolstered by premiums charged for 3-D screenings. This brings the worldwide gross up to $179.1 million.
There's a sharp drop-off for the number four and five weekend box-office spots, with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Toy Story 3" earning $9.7 million and $9 million, respectively. The Disney releases are a study in contrasts. "Toy Story 3," at number five, marks another rousing success for Pixar, with a worldwide haul of $730.5 million after just six weeks in theaters. On the other hand, "Apprentice" arrived two weeks ago to the uninspiring tune of $17.6 million. Even accounting for worldwide box offices, the total gross for the movie is still just shy of $70 million, far short of its rumored $150 million budget.
Check out everything we've got on "Inception."
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