As expected, Inception stood proud at the top of the box office in the US this weekend. While it didn't come close to the all-conquering box office record of Christopher Nolan's last film, The Dark Knight, it nevertheless took a very good $60 million. That's a very high total for a film that isn't a sequel or based on a known property. Plus, with fantastic word of mouth, the film is likely to keep doing good business over the next few weeks, especially as it's shouldn't have too much massive blockbuster competition.
However, while Chris Nolan will be very happy with the performance of his movie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has had his second movie of the summer to underperform at the American box office. Following Prince Of Persia, which is yet to break $90 million in North America (even though it's done very well internationally), The Sorceror's Apprentice only made it to the number three spot on the box office chart, taking $24 million since it opened last Wednesday.
Although that wouldn't be a too bad opening for most films, it's undoubtedly going to be seen as a disappointment for a $150 million effect filled visual spectacle that Disney has tried to sell as an event movie. It appears the decision to open the film opposite Inception was a mistake, and also that families were more interested in Despicable Me, which took a very good $32 million in its second weekend to outdo the opening of the Nicolas Cage fantasy film.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of July 16th-18th.
| Rank |
Title |
Weekend Gross (millions) |
Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 |
Inception |
$60.4 |
$60.4 |
| 2 |
Despicable Me |
$32.7 |
$118.3 |
| 3 |
The Sorceror's Apprentice |
$17.3 |
$24.6 |
| 4 |
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse |
$13.5 |
$264.9 |
| 5 |
Toy Story 3 |
$11.7 |
$362.7 |
| 6 |
Grown Ups |
$10.0 |
$129.2 |
| 7 |
The Last Airbender |
$7.4 |
$114.8 |
| 8 |
Predators |
$6.8 |
$40.0 |
| 9 |
Knight & Day |
$3.7 |
$69.2 |
| 10 |
The Karate Kid |
$2.2 |
$169.2 |