The challenging marketing battle for “Inception” ultimately proved successful, as the film grossed a weekend best $60.4 million according to early estimates.
Though not on the level of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” the total was easily enough to give “Inception” a dominant first place finish–its nearest box office competitor was holdover “Despicable Me,” which dropped to a still-respectable $32.7 million.
In third place was the less successful “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” which followed up on its lackluster Wednesday and Thursday performances with a disappointing weekend take of $17.4 million. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” ($13.5 million) and “Toy Story 3” ($11.7 million) completed the top five.
Weekend Top Ten:
1) Inception – $60.4M
2) Despicable Me – $32.7M ($118.4M)
3) The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – $17.4M ($24.5M)
4) Eclipse – $13.5M ($264.9M)
5) Toy Story 3 – $11.7M ($362.7M)
6) Grown Ups – $10M ($129.3M)
7) The Last Airbender – $7.5M ($114.8M)
8) Predators – $6.8M ($40.1M)
9) Knight & Day – $3.7M ($69.2M)
10) The Karate Kid – $2.2M ($169.2M)