'Inception' locks in on American box office dream
AFP
LOS ANGELES- The dream-warped Leonardo DiCaprio thriller "Inception" captivated North American audiences this weekend, landing it at the top of the box office charts, final industry figures showed Monday.
The summer blockbuster -- one of only a handful of original, non-sequel movies to gain that title this year -- soared to the number one spot with 62.8 million dollars in receipts.
With "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan -- who also brought to audiences the brain-twisting cult classic "Memento" -- at the helm, the flick has wowed critics with its complex science fiction concepts.
Slipping to second place was the 3-D animated film "Despicable Me," with a 32.8-million-dollar take, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The film from Universal Pictures, starring Steve Carell as the voice of Gru, a villain bent on snatching the moon, has made a total of 118.4 million dollars in its two weeks of release.
Another new entry at the weekend, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," reached third place with 17.6 million dollars, for the Nicholas Cage-starring story of a magician battling evil alongside his hapless pupil.
A previous top earner, vampire romance "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," fell to fourth place, with 13.4 million dollars.
"Toy Story 3," which took fifth with 12 million dollars in receipts, has racked up 363 million dollars over its five weeks in theaters.
At sixth place was the Adam Sandler and Chris Rock comedy "Grown Ups," about a reunion of high school friends. It brought in 9.9 million dollars, while the critically-slammed "The Last Airbender" about beings endowed with powers to control air, earth, water and fire came in seventh with 7.8 million.
"Predators," updating a 1987 sci-fi classic about CIA-hired commandos hunted by an alien predator in the Central American jungle, earned seven million dollars in its second week, tumbling five spots to eighth on the chart.
The action-comedy "Knight and Day," starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, earned 3.6 million dollars for the ninth spot.
Rounding out the top 10 was "The Karate Kid," with 2.3 million dollars in receipts, with an impressive 169.3-million-dollar overall take in its six weeks of release.
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