Image Credit: Patti PerretThis one may not be decided until tomorrow as the top two films are only separated by a meager $300,000. It’s interesting that for a weekend that wasn’t generating much attention from Hollywood, both new releases have now grossed over $20 million, creating a real horse race. The Last Exorcism led the charge Friday night, but Takers has come up from behind and is getting mighty close to Exorcism’s gross. Both films well over-performed expectations, with Takers earning an estimated $21 million for the weekend and Exorcism an estimated $21.3 million. It’s likely that either Lionsgate or Sony Pictures has overestimated their Sunday number, though, and we may have a different outcome tomorrow.

If you are to trust the exit polling, The Last Exorcism was universally despised by audiences. According to CinemaScore, the film generated a D with audiences. Not even the younger crowd, which is usually more accepting of movies, could muster more than a failing grade for the documentary-style thriller. Takers fared better, earning a B from audiences, with women under 25 enjoying the film the most.

The rest of the weekend was dominated by holdovers, with the most recent releases falling most. Lottery Ticket dropped a steep 65 percent while Piranha 3-D lost 60 percent of its value. The re-release of Avatar didn’t make much of a dent in its box office, earning only $4 million in its 812 theaters for a twelfth-place finish. The film has now earned close to $754 million domestically.

Spot three for the frame was held by The Expendables, which in its third week grossed an estimated $9.5 million, dropping 44 percent since last weekend for a total cume of $82 million. Eat Pray Love earned $7 million for a total gross of $60 million. And slot five went to The Other Guys, which has stayed in the top five since opening a month ago. Losing only 37 percent of its value for an additional $6.6 million, the film is just on the cusp of $100 million with $99.3 million.

Twilight parody Vampires Suck took the sixth slot, losing over 55 percent of its value for a weekend take of $5.3 million and a total gross of $27.9 million.  Inception landed in spot seven. The mind-bendy thriller, in its seventh weekend in release, grossed another $5.1 million for a total cume of $270 million. Nanny McPhee Returns grabbed eighth place with $4.7 million, a 44 percent drop-off. The British film written by and starring Emma Thompson has earned $17 million in two weeks of release. Ninth place went to the Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman-starrer The Switch which lost 45 percent of its value for $4.6 million. The romantic comedy has generated only $16.4 million since opening last weekend.

And spot ten went to Piranha 3-D, which grossed an estimated $4.3 million for a total two-week gross of $18.2 million. Check back next weekend when Going the Distance opens opposite Machete.

Go Woody and Buzz! Who would have thought that the third iteration of a 15-year old franchise would be crossing the $1 billion mark today? Such is the case with the brilliant Toy Story 3, which has grossed $404.9 million stateside and $592.9 million internationally. The animated hit has already become Pixar Animation’s highest-grossing film ever. Now, the movie joins Alice in Wonderland as the second $1 billion film this year from Walt Disney Studios, making it the first studio to ever land two $1 billion films in one year.

“These box office triumphs prove that creative storytelling brought to life by imaginative, inspired, and talented professionals is something audiences respond to the world over,” says Rich Ross, chairman, Walt Disney Studios. Both films were released in 3-D and are the two highest-grossing movies of 2010, with Toy Story in the top spot.

Image Credit: Karen BallardWith the help of a stronger-than-expected Saturday, The Expendables held on to first place for the second weekend in a row, beating out five newcomers that were trying to dethrone the aging action stars. Earning another $16.5 million, the Sly Stallone project fell 53 percent from its opening weekend, pushing its total gross to close to $65 million. The film that got the closest to the top was Twentieth Century Fox’s Twilight spoof Vampires Suck, which grossed $12.2 million over the three-day frame. (It has grossed $18.5 million since its Wednesday opening.) The rest of the new releases struggled, most failing to crack $10 million for their opening weekend.

In its second weekend, Eat Pray Love held in pretty well in theaters. The Julia Roberts-starrer dropped 48 percent for an additional $12 million. The globe-trotting piece has now grossed $47 million after ten days in release. Lottery Ticket landed in the fourth spot for the weekend and seemed to generate good will with audiences. The Bow Wow-starrer earned $11.1 million plus an A- from exit pollster CinemaScore, which portends a strong hold for the movie going forward. The Other Guys rounded out the top five for the weekend with an additional $10.1 million in its coffers. The Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell action-comedy has now earned $88 million since its opening three weeks ago.

Spot six went to the much-hyped, rarely viewed R-rated B movie, Piranha 3-D. Bowing to $10 million, the over-the-top bloody mess didn’t score that well with audiences, earning only a C from CinemaScore. Nanny McPhee Returns opened to slot seven. The sequel grossed $8.3 million but since it’s already earned north of $63 million from its international run, the kids flick (which had a $35-million budget) will end up in the black. And families seemed to respond well to the Emma Thompson-starrer, giving it an A- on the exit polls.

Despite the star power of Jennifer Aniston, The Switch bowed in eighth place. This romantic comedy didn’t receive as wide of a release as her movies usually get and earned only $8.1 million. Audiences weren’t in love with the flick either, scoring it with a middling B, according to CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top ten were two very different holdovers. Inception, in its sixth weekend of release, earned $7.6 million for a total cume of $261 million, making it one of summer’s biggest successes. Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World grossed only $5 million its second weekend in release, marking one of summer’s biggest box-office disappointments. The well-reviewed flick starring Michael Cera just isn’t working with audiences and in its second weekend, it dropped 53 percent for a meager cume of $20.7 million. It’s a shame since the Edgar Wright-directed flick is one of the most original to hit theaters in a long time.