Weekend Box Office: August 13-15
Sun, August 15, 2010 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. The Expendables - $35 million
2. Eat Pray Love - $23.7 million
3. The Other Guys - $18 million
4. Inception - $11.3 million
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - $10.5 million
6. Despicable Me - $6.7 million
7. Step Up 3D - $6.6 million
8. Salt - $6.3 million
9. Dinner for Schmucks - $6.3 million
10. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore - $4 million
Honestly, with that cast, they couldn't possibly go wrong. The Expendables, starring Sylvester Stallone and just about every other action movie star you can think of, easily took first place this weekend with a terrific $35 million. That's much better than this summer's other 80s flashback action film The A-Team, which opened with $25 million.
Julia Roberts also had a pretty good weekend, with her film Eat Pray Love earning $23.7 million. That's Roberts' biggest opening weekend since 2001's America's Sweethearts.
Last weekend's champ The Other Guys had a steady second weekend, earning another $18 million to bring its total to $70 million. Inception also continued it's hit run at the box office, edging closer to the $250 million mark with $11.3 this weekend.
It was not such a great weekend for fanboy favorite Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which flopped this weekend with just $10.5 million. Despite being a favorite at Comic Con, the Michael Cera film failed to catch on with mainstream audiences, although I expect it to reach cult-hit status in the months to come.
Step Up 3D stumbled this weekend, dropping 58% and trailing the previous two films in the series despite the advantage of higher 3D ticket sales. Salt became Angelina Jolie's fourth film to gross $100 million this weekend, while Dinner For Schmucks held steady with $6.3 million. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore inexplicably remains in the top 10 for some reason.
It's been an excellent summer for animated films, with the adorable Despicable Me having the smallest drop of the weekend and sitting pretty with $222 million, and despite not being in the top 10 for the first time since its release in June, Pixar's brilliant Toy Story 3 crossed the $400 million mark this weekend, making it the second highest-grossing animated film (behind Shrek 2's $441 million) in history, as well as the 11th highest-grossing fllm of all time.
Coming up next weekend, we have Piranha 3D and Nanny McPhee Returns opening in theaters. That should be a real-biter at the box office. (no, not really)
Reader Comments (1)
Stallone, number one in 2010, awesome. Huge cast or not, this was a Stallone vehicle, and it rocked! Nobody bought a ticket because randy couture was in it.