| Film | Weekend | Per | Total | |
| 1 | Inception | $60,400,000 | $15,928 | $60,400,000 |
| 2 | Despicable Me | $32,734,000 (-42.0%) | $9,350 | $118,365,000 |
| 3 | The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | $17,373,000 | $4,958 | $24,461,000 |
| 4 | The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | $13,500,000 (-57.4%) | $3,374 | $264,900,000 |
| 5 | Toy Story 3 | $11,742,000 (-44.1%) | $3,696 | $362,709,000 |
| 6 | Grown Ups | $10,000,000 (-36.7%) | $3,253 | $129,254,000 |
| 7 | The Last Airbender | $7,450,000 (-55.2%) | $2,656 | $114,833,000 |
| 8 | Predators | $6,800,000 (-72.5%) | $2,548 | $40,084,000 |
| 9 | Knight & Day | $3,700,000 (-52.1%) | $1,922 | $69,209,000 |
| 10 | The Karate Kid | $2,200,000 (-59.0%) | $1,436 | $169,202,000 |
This just in: Bagels for everyone!
Inception was a hard sell in the sense that there has never been a mindfuck movie done on this scale before. For all the celebrations of Memento‘s twisting narrative, it’s how it changes what you’ve seen before, not what it is you’ve seen before. And so you’re going to see a lot of people publicly flail with the film, as multiple viewings can create multiple interpretations. But were Leonardo Di Caprio and Christopher Nolan enough to get people in? I’d say yes, on top of a great marketing campaign that didn’t hide the weird. And I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the final numbers go up a million or so if the film did pick up business on Saturday (nearly $22) against the Friday ($18) and midnight ($3 Million) numbers. But the good news here is that this wasn’t a Friday picture, and surely a number of people are curious about the film will wait in the hopes of not dealing with the first weekend crowds. Because this isn’t franchise-based, next weekend’s business could be solid, and perhaps the film won’t fall over 40%. How it drops will be telling. The film is going to make $100 domestically, and it should clear that hurdle next weekend unless audiences turn, but reviews and people scores have been generally positive. I think that $150 shouldn’t be a problem, but everything will feel more set next weekend.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the second Disney/Bruckheimer flop in a row. Some say that the Bruck was and has been asleep at the wheel, and it wouldn’t surprise me. I thought the film had a reasonable enough hook but there were no champions and the usually engaging cast and a tepid marketing campaign didn’t catch on domestically. Prince of Persia at least wasn’t a total disaster internationally – but a lot of good that will do them. This one may also see some perks from its global release. But probably not.
Predators dropped like a horror movie. I didn’t think it was that unpopular, but it had its weekend, and now it’s on the limp to $50 and out. If international is solid this could spawn a franchise if the film’s opening weekend numbers and blu-ray sales are enough to generate the illusion it did well domestically. Whereas Despicable Me looks like a monster. Though it took a sizable second weekend hit for an animated film, and has competition next week with Ramona and Beezus, if Universal plays their cards right this could get near $200. It opened and is playing to right around How to Train Your Dragon/Monsters vs. Aliens business.
Eclipse a is a math formula of crumbling numbers versus momentum. Next weekend it’ll be over $270, possibly $275, but how much gas is left in the tank? And will Toy Story 3 keep playing so it gets to $400? With the former I think there’s less pressure to get to the round number if only because victory is already at hand. With the latter, it might be worth it. It weathered Despicable Me okay, but then at the end of the month you’ve got Cats and Dogs 2 followed by Step Up 3-D. The latter is also a Disney title so depending on how big they think it could be, Toy Story might go away. But with both Eclipse and Toy Story 3 victory is at hand.
The Last Airbender made its safety $100+ domestic, and everyone is walking away. Knight and Day is doing quiet business, which means that it will likely top out around the same $70 plus as The A-Team. And The Karate Kids are All Right.
Next weekend is Comic-con, and a slight breather before the puttering out of the summer. By 8/13, we’re almost all done.