Will Ferrell connected with audiences as a bumbling, clueless cop opposite an easy-to-rage Mark Wahlberg. The Other Guys earned an estimated $35.6 million, marking Ferrell’s second highest grossing opener ever and the first film to knock Inception out of the top spot. The other new wide release, Step Up 3D, benefited little from the extra dimension. In fact, the third iteration in the dance franchise opened to third place and $15 million, the lowest bow of the loosely connected trilogy. And the two films together couldn’t top the weekend box office tally one year ago this week, when G.I. Joe and Julie and Julia opened. Total box office was down some 7 percent.
Inception continues to astound. The film dropped a modest 32 percent for $18.6 million and a second place finish. Its total gross has now reached $228 million in four weeks of release. Salt landed in fourth place in its third weekend in theaters. The Angelina Jolie starrer dropped only 44 percent to $10.9 million and its cume edges closer to $100 million, standing at $91.8 million. Despicable Me took the sixth slot for the weekend, losing only 39 percent of its value. Earning $9.4 million; the original animated flick’s total cume stands at $209 million.
Last weekend’s holdovers didn’t hold up very well at all. As expected, Dinner for Schmucks fell 55 percent due to the stiff competition presented by The Other Guys. The Steve Carell-Paul Rudd starrer landed in fifth place with $10.5 million. The film’s total gross now stands at $46.7 million after 10 days in release. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore didn’t fall as far, losing 44 percent of its value for a weekend take of $6.9 million and a seventh place finish. The family film’s paltry two-week cume is only $26.4 million. And the Zac Efron drama Charlie St. Cloud fell further, dropping 62 percent to $4.7 million and a total take of only $23.5 million.
Toy Story 3 and The Kids Are All Right rounded out the top 10. Toy Story is on the verge of $400 million, earning another $3 million in its eighth weekend of release. Its cume now stands at $396 million. And the Annette Bening-Julianne Moore indie sneaked into the top 10 for the first time in its limited release. The film is now open wide in 997 theaters and earned another $2.6 million for a total cume of $14 million.
Check back next weekend when the testosterone-fueled The Expendables takes on the estrogen-charged Eat Pray Love. Which sex will dominate the box office?
Eat Pray Love will flop hopefully
Why you hatin’?
‘L’ is right you know. Julia Roberts is not a box-office draw anymore.
Also, tracking for ‘The Expendables’ shows that its in the lead for next weekend.
Seriously. Will its success or failure really affect you one way or the other? You couldn’t drag me to a theater to see the movie, but if other people like it, good for them. At least it’s not mindless drivel like Twilight.
Have you seen Eat Pray Love? There is some Oscar buzz for it, and depending on the reviews, it could do well.
Twilight is an above average effort. At least it isn’t mindless drivel like Transformers 2 and The Proposal.
The Proposal was funny as hell. With Twilight I sat and watched the first one and was like what the hell? This is what people are going crazy about? It really has nothing. The Proposal was way better than Twilight and for Transformers 2 I couldn’t even finish it and didn’t care to.
@Diva: That piece of garbage The Proposal was FUNNY? The plot was boring and unbelievable, and the characters were SO PATHETIC! ‘It’s like an Easter egg hunt’ LOL. PIECE OF GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!! One of the worst movies of last year! How did a POGTIWTTMFA like that film make over $160 million? Really, people?
@m1
I totally agree with you. I swear, I thought I was the only one on Earth who didn’t think The Proposal was funny. I also disliked the characters. Actually, I only liked the dog!
Actually, Eat Pray Love has a double built-in audience: Roberts fans plus fans of the book. There is also the counter-programming aspect, so it should do well.
One word on Eat, Pray, Love = OPRAH
I don’t like the book at all, but Oprah book club status + Julia Roberts = money
C’mon, no love for “Scott Pilgram vs. the World” opening?
Retire ageing hasbeen perennial romcom “actress”! and give that Oscar to Ellen Burstyn!
I saw a preview for Eat Pray Love when I went to see The Girl Who Played with Fire and the MPAA warning preceding the trailer indicated there would be nudity involving a male’s rear end (James Franco’s?) but, alas, there was no exposed derriere to be found anywhere.
Um… A little film called Scott Pilgrim vs. the world just may (hopefully) doo doo on the other two new releases.
you’re right , it is a little film and it will stay a little film, forgotten after one week. noone cares for that one trick pony Cera and his boring movies.
does anyone else find his voice and its seeming inabillity to go through puberty anoying?
I HEART Chris Evans, but sadly he isn’t in SCOTT PILGRIM very long. Michael Cera is not a box office draw. SUPERBAD was successful cause of the movie and the entire cast. Cera can not open a movie, wish Hollywood realize that.
Did anyone seriously think that a sequel to “Cats and Dogs” was going to be a success?
The first came out long before a lil’ movie called BEVERYLY HILLS CHIHUHUA….so yes, somewhere, someone DID think a sequel would be successful!
Toy Story 3 is bringing the cash
Salt ONLY dropped 44%? That seems like a pretty big number to me…it sounds like they are downplaying it.
Usually if the percent a film drops is under 50%, the film is doing well.
Other Guys was not that funny. I’m glad to see The Kids Are All Right making bank in limited release, now that’s a great movie.
I wanted to see The Kids Are All Right this weekend but my partner refused to go because it got bad viewer reviews. I am glad to see someone liked it.
I know, right? They probably enjoy overrated films like Inception.
Convince your partner to think independently & judge for him/herself! The Kids Are All Right was GREAT and much better than I expected. Should be surefire Oscar Nominee.
I went to see the Kids Are All Right last night, and I was so excited it was finally playing in a theater near me! It was excellent, the actors are wonderful, and everyone in the theater really enjoyed themselves.
I’m so sick of Julia Roberts playing Julia Roberts. It got old a long time ago.
What’s your problem?
Probably just someone else tired of seeing Julia Roberts play the same annoying character in every movie she makes. If she’s merely going to show up and read lines, she needs to just retire and allow one of the many superior actresses in Hollywood to take the part instead.
So since Julia is a mother now, they should bring in a younger, single unknown actress to play her is what you’re suggesting?
Yeah, that’s basically it. People direct a lot of venom at “past their prime” American sweetheart-type film stars, regardless of whether they deserve it: “You’re ancient! Just shrivel up and die in some hole already!” They love knocking the Julias of the industry off their pedestal. It’s stupid.
Nope. They can cast the same group or older, for all I care. I just think Julia Roberts needs to quit playing Julia Roberts and learn how to act.
For all the people hatin’ on Julia Roberts, I would recommend you to check out Duplicity, a really smart, fun spy film that she was fantastic in. And this is coming from a non-fan.
If toy Story can just get to 404 million it can surpass Transformers 2 and Spider-Man 1 in the all time domestic list, thus being in the top 10! Inception is also doing fantastically which is great to see. Obviously I’m not an expert but I would think 265 or 270 million total. 280 optimistically.
Go Scott Pilgrim!!! Beat the two movies that consist of ex-megamovie stars.
not gonna happen. you should pray it lands in the top 5 spots instead
I actually really liked step up 3D. sorta a bummer to hear it “tripped up.” so now maybe there won’t be any more.
…I wonder how it did at the forign box office?
I enjoyed it too, and hopefully once good word of mouth gets out, it willhave some legs. Disney spent the money to have the film shot in 3D and not just converted like a bunch of these other 3D releases. It really is one of the best 3D movies to come out since AVATAR. I saw it yesterday and LOVED the dance scenes. I must admit, I too was skeptical, but the sequences with the moves are just mind-blowing. I really hope more folks will check it out. I was really REALLY surprised to have liked it and how excellent the 3D effects were. And I wish everyone hating on the film wouldn’t speak til seeing it, cause I guarantee, sitting through the film (even if the story is a little hokey) and saying the 3D effects weren’t awesome…you prolly are sitting at a bar rather than shaking it on the dancefloor if you are at a club!
Does Will Ferrell ever play anything other than ‘bumbling and clueless’?
No, but he doesn’t have to play anything else, he’s got a lot of fans.
Eat, Pray, Love only has one target audience: Older women.
Yes, older, if you mean 20+. It’s not a loud and obnoxious movie directed at teenagers. Another target audience: gay guys, as evidenced by one of my best friends who won’t shut up about how excited he is that Julia is returning to her “roots” after that Duplicity crap. Can’t wait to go with him. But then again I’m an ancient 21-year-old.
My boyfriend expressed interest in seeing Eat Pray Love…it’s so boring to fit movies into a gender-box. Let it go.
Older women can very much turn films into hits: The Devil Wears Prada, Mamma Mia! Sex And The City, Julie & Julia, It’s Complicated…I think it will actually beat The Expendables, which looks absolutely horrid.
Pointing out Meryl Streep movies and throwing in Sex and the City (terrible terrible terrible) does not validate your argument.
Want examples? How about Helen Mirren in The Queen, Diane Keaton in Something’s got to give and you could even say that Betty White’s resurgence is proof that old(er) women do bring in audiences.
Testosterone-fuled and estrogen charged?! HA HA HA HA.
Actually…yes. Brad Pitt is the Exectutive Producer
Inception is SO overrated. It gets a 7/10. I can pitch-perfectly understand why some critics gave it a negative review.
How do you pitch-perfectly understand something? If you’re going to use a tired old cliche, please use one that at least makes sense.
Why would you “pitch-perfectly” understand?
Well I am sure the film comany is crying all the way to the bank.
I don’t understand your distaste for INCEPTION, nor do I really care. The movie may not be great in your eyes, but its director, whose resume was already impressive, is now one of the most concept-breaking geniuses in Hollywood in the same league as Speilberg & James Cameron. So you can feel however you want, but that fact doesn’t change…INCEPTION solidifies Nolan in the biz.
“I don’t understand you distaste for Inception…”
Yes, you actually proved the point I was trying to make. Thank you.
Phil, I agree with you and I dont think M1 knows what he/she is talking about.
You can say that the film was great, stunning, whatever. However, the negative critic reviews for the film make ABSOLUTE sense. When I need to have a piece of paper and pencil to constantly right things down, that is not a good thing. The movie was far too busy and somewhat failed to convey its story through action. The Dark Knight was infinitely better. Inception will not age well.
nr1: to constantly “right” things down? No wonder “Inception” is over your head. And probably the “Transformers” series, too.
@Brett: We all make typos. Including you. All your reply did was label you as a dumbass.
Inception original? The Cell, Paprika, Dark City, Liquid Dreams, Lucid, Rapid I, The Matrix…all did it first.
Seriously shut up. NOTHING is completely original. Paprika had people going into dreams, but it wasn’t a heist movie. Inception is an original film, even if other films had similar premises. It’s fine to not like the film m1, but you don’t need to make multiple posts about how overrated it is. Also Inception is going to age VERY well. People are seeing it multiple times, and loving it more and more. When films reward repeat viewing, they tend to age well.
@Woot: If Avatar can fail to hold up after several months, Inception can follow the same path.
Well Avatar is completely different. True people went to see Avatar multiple times just like Inception, and Avatar is already starting to be seen as an overrated and dull movie. But people went to see Avatar again for its visuals. People went to see Inception again for the story. Also I said films that reward repeat viewing tend to age well. Avatar did NOT reward repeat viewing. I hated it more every time I saw it. Inception does reward repeat viewing.
m1, it’s fine if you didn’t like it and you’re entitled to your opinion. however, i would not call it “overrated”. maybe, “overhyped” instead. some fans over praise the film which creates hype backlash.
I recommend concentrating when watching a movie especially one like Inception. If you did and still didn’t understand you can go watch it again, if that fails I suggest you go see your doctor and figure things out from there. IQ test?
Interesting to see how Duplicity was constantly being bashed for being confusing, yet Inception isn’t. People need to be more consistent with themselves.
Glad to see Will get the stink off of Land of the Lost.
i never thought that movie was as bad as people said it was.