It was a dream come true (and other such clichés) for Inception, which fended off an early challenge from the new ensemble farce Dinner For Schmucks to win its third straight weekend at the box office. Schmucks held a slim, $200,000 lead on Inception on Friday, but ultimately proved less durable than Christopher Nolan’s mind-bender, which added another $27.5 million to a total gross the should pass the $200 million mark by mid-week. The Steve Carell-Paul Rudd comedy slipped back into second with $23.3 million, still by far the highest grossing movie ever with Schmucks in the title. The other openers fared significantly less well, due to nobody in their right mind wanting to see them: The abysmal Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, a nine-years-late extension of the unholy talking-animal franchise, bowed to $12.5 million for fifth place, just enough to edge out the sunset-filled Zac Efron romantic fantasy Charlie St. Cloud, which took $12.1 million. Since these numbers are estimates, not actuals, the two movies may well switch places, but we’ll leave it to the bookkeepers to give a half damn.
In limited release, the warmly received Robert Duvall-Bill Murray period piece Get Low opened big with $22,725 per screen on four screens. It’ll no doubt enjoy a more aggressive roll-out in the coming weeks.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.