Box office: 'Inception' on top again, beating the opening of 'Salt' [updated]

"Inception" has achieved that rarest of box-office dreams: a big-budget event movie that's a word-of-mouth phenomenon.

Ticket sales for director Christopher Nolan's complex thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio declined only 31% on its second weekend in theaters to $43.5 million, according to an estimate from distributor Warner Bros. That's the smallest such decline for any movie that's opened this year and one of the best ever for a film that didn't play its second weekend over a holiday. 

With moviegoers, particularly younger ones, spreading such good buzz about the movie and some coming back for repeat viewings, it now appears likely to gross a  strong $250 million in the U.S. and Canada and possibly more overseas. That would provide a good return on the $160 million that Warner and Legendary Pictures spent to produce the picture, considered by many to be a big risk given its dense plot and original style.

[Update, 12:11 p.m.: "Inception" is on track to have a very strong overseas performance, as it opened in a number of major foreign countries and grossed $56.7 million in 38 international markets. Among its best debuts: $8.9 million in Japan, where costar Ken Watanabe has done a significant amount of publicity; $8.1 million in France; $6.8 million in South Korea; $6.8 million in Russia; and $6.4 million in Australia.]

Its main competition this weekend, the Angelina Jolie action thriller "Salt," opened to a pretty good $36.5 million. The movie  likely will collect around $100 million domestically, but it has much higher box-office potential overseas, where Jolie is one of the few stars who reliably draws big audiences.

[Update, 12:11 p.m.: "Salt" opened in only 17 small foreign markets this weekend, taking in $5.1 million and making a very strong debut in India.]

Distributor Sony Pictures and its partner Relativity Media spent about $130 million to produce "Salt," according to a person close to the production. A Sony spokesman said tax credits brought the final cost down to less than $110 million.

Most summer action movies draw a younger male audience, but "Salt' did just the opposite, based on the appeal of Jolie and also largely positive reviews. 53% of filmgoers were female, according to exit polling, and 59% were older than 25. That's potentially good news for the picture's playability, since older adults are more likely than teenagers to come to a movie after it opens. Audiences liked "Salt," giving it an average grade of B+, according to market research firm CinemaScore.

"Ramona and Beezus," the only other movie to open nationwide this weekend, failed to draw much of a crowd. 20th Century Fox and Walden Media's adaptation of the children's book series by Beverly Cleary opened to a weak $8 million.

In limited release, the Sundance Film Festival favorite "The Kids Are All Right" continues to play extremely well. Focus Features expanded the offbeat family drama, which stars Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, to 210 theaters from 38 and collected $2.7 million, or $13,173 per theater.

"Kids" enjoyed a drop of about 20% at most theaters where it was already playing and opened well in its new locations, which for the first time included some suburbs. On Friday, it will expand substantially, to more than 500 theaters, as Focus tries to convert the indie drama into a mainstream hit.

The animated hit "Despicable Me" was No. 3 at the box office on its third weekend, declining only 26% to $24.1 million with no other family movies opening. It has now grossed a healthy $161.7 million and is on its way to more than $200 million.

[Update, 12:11 p.m.: "Toy Story 3" continued its phenomenal box office run with a huge opening in Britain, where it grossed $30.6 million, the highest-ever debut for an animated title (not accounting for ticket price inflation). It set the same record in Spain, where "Toy Story 3" opened to $7.9 million.

Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

1. "Inception" (Warner Bros./Legendary) $43.5 million on its second weekend, down 31%. $56.7 million overseas in 38 foreign markets. Domestic total: $143.7 million. International total: $84 million.

2. "Salt" (Sony/Relativity): Opened to $36.5 million. $5.1 million overseas in 17 foreign markets.

3. "Despicable Me" (Universal): $24.1 million on its third weekend, down 26%. $3.2 million overseas in nine foreign markets. Domestic total: $161.7 million. International total: $17.4 million.

4. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (Disney): $9.7 million on its second weekend, down 45%. $10.3 million overseas in 21 foreign markets. Domestic total: $42.6 million. International total: $25.3 million.

5. "Toy Story 3" (Disney/Pixar): $9 million on its sixth weekend, down 25%. $62 million overseas in 43 foreign markets. Domestic total: $379.5 million. International total: $351 million.

6. "Ramona and Beezus" (Fox/Walden): Opened to $8 million.

7. "Grown Ups" (Sony/Relativity): $7.6 million on its fifth weekend, down 23%. Domestic total: $142.4 million.

8. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (Summit): $7 million on its fourth weekend, down 48%. $20.1 million overseas in 69 foreign markets. Domestic total: $279.7 million. International total: $326.4 million (International figures updated at 6:11 p.m.)

9. "The Last Airbender" (Paramount): $4.2 million on its fourth     weekend, down 46%. Domestic total: $123.3 million.

10. "Predators" (Fox/Dune): $2.9 million on its third weekend, down 59%. $5.7 million overseas in 34 foreign markets. Domestic total: $46.6 million. International total: $48.2 million.

-- Ben Fritz

Photos, from top: Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception." Credit: Stephen Vaughan / Warner Bros. Angelina Jolie in "Salt." Credit: Andrew Schwartz / Sony Pictures

Comments

[FilmFan]

Bravo Nolan/Jolie!

[Yvette]

Why is every one 'crowing' over "Inception" beating out "Salt" at the box office over the weekend? Has everyone forgotten that "Inception" is also released in iMax, which has a larger ticket price? Considering that "Salt" is 'not' released in iMax and opened in fewer theaters than "Inception," I think Angelina Jolie and Sony should be very happy with the film's opening weekend receipts.

I'm a 55-year-old woman and I thoroughly enjoyed "Salt." I can also testify that this film drew a cross-section of ages and races ... which is the sign of a good film. More importantly, everyone was buzzing while the credits rolled. I hope word of mouth brings in a better--or at least equal--box office next weekend.

[Amy Michelle]

Inception was such a great movie. I def. recommend it

[sophie]

I'm a 40-year-old female, and have no desire to see Salt whatsoever. However, I'm dying to see Inception. Christopher Nolan is for those of us who use more than 10% of our brain, plus want to see some action. I loved the Dark Knight, Batman Begins, the Prestige and Memento.

[Rahul Bihari]

Core concepts of Inception are present in The Dreampickers since 2years

I wish to inform you that the core concepts of the recently released blockbuster movie ‘Inception’, are present in my novel - The Dreampickers. The movie has received world wide acclaim for its rather ‘innovative’ concept of ‘inception’, which is so vividly described in my novel.

The idea of instilling new thoughts in the minds of selected individuals while they sleep, is the job of The Dreampickers. On waking up these individuals retain the new thought in their subconscious mind, remember it as a dream and execute it in the real world.

The sentient beings in The Dreampickers protect their subconscious minds through a psychic barrier, from unsolicited thoughts and intruders, just like the militarized subconscious mind of Robert Fischer, as shown in ‘Inception’.

There are many other similarities which are evident from the attached list of excerpts from 'The Dreampickers'.

I finished writing The Dreampickers in 2008. Last year I uploaded it in ‘google books’ an online library run by Google, where it has remained open to public since then.
In February end this year, the novel was short listed for The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
The Dreampickers is available for purchase on Amazon Kindle since January 2010, through Amazon.com in the USA and other countries supporting Kindle and i Phone . The book was also submitted to various literary agents for the purpose of publishing.

For the record, Christopher Nolan was offered the contract for Inception in 2001/2002, after which he took 8 years to complete the story. Hence the movie was released in
July 2010.

Yours Truly,

Dr.Rahul Bihari

Ph: 0091 - 9532170145

Visit : www.thedreampickers.com, thedreampickers.blogspot.com,
the book is available for reading on Google Books > The Dreampickers

Kindle edition on:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+dreampickers&ih=9_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_1.203_340&fsc=-1&x=14&y=23

Excerpt from the ‘Dreampickers’ , explaining the concept of ‘Inception’

“First of all, I must tell you about the ‘astral body’. When you see and perceive each other, what you see and feel is the physical body. It is the physical body, which feels hungry, gets tired, sleeps, feeds etc. Within our physical body, is a subtle body, which forms our core. This subtle body is known as the astral body or sometimes as the soul. The soul determines our nature, personality, and everything we think, do and become. It stays in our physical body life long, being connected to it through a subtle silver chord. At death the silver chord gets severed and the soul leaves the body to take re-birth in a different body.
So, the soul changes several bodies, being re-born again and again, till it achieves enlightenment or Nirvana and merges with God, the supreme soul from where it originally emanated. The physical body dies after a pre-destined time, whereas the soul or the astral body lives on forever.

The ‘Gita’, a holy book of the Hindus, describes it as that ‘which cannot be burnt by fire, cannot be made wet by water and which cannot be destroyed by weapons’. The astral body can pass through any barrier in the universe and travel at the speed of thought. When a person sleeps, the astral body floats right on top of his or her physical body.
The human beings you see here are all ‘The Chosen Ones’. There sphere of activity is such that they require hands-on practical training to implement the idea given to them from the Specter of Light.
So, as they sleep, the ‘Dreampickers’ pick up their astral bodies from atop their physical bodies and bring them here for training. Before they wake up the next day, their souls are returned to their bodies. Most of the chosen ones forget their astral tour after waking up while some of them may remember it as a dream. However, the training remains in the sub-conscious mind, and is revealed as their own thought or action at the appropriate time.”

‘And the world perceives it as an invention, innovation or an exemplary performance, not knowing that this is where it came from!’ exclaimed Tulpi.
‘But how are the ‘Dreampickers’ able to impart training to the chosen ones in such varied subjects,…..

In the movie :

The hero, Mr.Cobb ( Leonardo DiCaprio) is asked to implant an idea in the subconscious mind of a certain Mr.Fischer who is heir apparent to a rival Industrial Empire. This idea would turn him against his ailing and about to die father and eventually lead him to disintegrate his own company.

Mr.Cobb is otherwise a specialist in stealing people’s ideas from their dreams.
( or in other words a dream picker! )

Other similarities -

1. The time paradox

‘I must tell you that you have traveled from Earth at a speed faster than light, which means that you have transcended the boundaries of time and space. Right now you are in your future. Each hour spend here is equal to ten years on Earth!’

Tulpi remarked ‘Lama, by the time we reach Earth, all the people we know would have become very old. This is not what we desire.’

‘Yes Lama, we would like to live our lives completely on Earth.’ said a worried Rudra.

‘I understand your anxiety. Don’t worry, traveling in time means both future and past. So, when you go back, we will place you in your past and you will not miss any moment in your world’ reassured Lama Dharam Jyoti.

In the movie :

Every minute in the real world is equal to several hours in the dream world, and hours in the real world are equal to several days in the dream world.

2. The Psychic barrier

‘You are now part of a universal consciousness which makes you sensitive to all souls in the universe. You will be receptive to anyone thinking about you and also have access to all minds. An exception would be the enlightened souls who possess a protective barrier around their minds. Transfer of thoughts and psychic suggestions to enlightened minds is automatically sieved as per suitability’ said Lama Dharam Jyoti.

‘Why a barrier?’ asked Rudra.
‘Ah, till now I have been telling you about the sentient beings which represent the good
forces in the cosmos. But, my dear children there is also a dark parallel, composed of all evil. Prince Kaal and his army of dark angels ferociously head the evil forces.
Everything bad – devastation, disease, war and crime, disintegration of human values and character are continuously created and perpetuated by Kaal. He constantly transmits evil thought signals throughout the universe, invading gullible minds. Once captured by Kaal, the naive mind thinks and brings into effect evil deeds. The dark angels assist him to conduct his misdeeds effectively. Hence the sentient beings protect themselves from such despicable thought signals through psychic barriers. It is also their duty to release imprisoned minds from the clutches of evil.’

In the movie :

Robert Fischer ( Cillian Murphy) has a militarized psychic barrier around his sub-conscious mind which prevents entry of any unsolicited ideas or thoughts.

3. The Maze and Paradox

‘Can’t you use your enormous psychic powers to access its location?’ asked Tulpi.
‘The Nebulae Labyrinthine is an exception. It is made up of infinitely long interlaced tunnels charged with a strange radiation. The tunnels are made up of nebular gases that drift and change the tunnel configuration in accordance to strong space winds which continuously sweep through the galaxy. Hence the way through the labyrinth alters frequently making it impossible for anyone to navigate through it. The radiation in the tunnel blocks psychic transmissions and menacingly severs the connecting chords of astral bodies, thereby further compounding the problem. As a matter of fact the
Nebulae Labyrinthine has emerged as one of the biggest traps for living beings and souls alike. Some of our brightest angel scouts remain lost here with no hope of coming out.’

In the movie :

Mr.Cobb builds a maze in his dream world. Navigation through the maze, protects him from hostile elements in the dream. There are sudden interruptions in the maze which are termed as the paradox.

4.Ronald Fischer

Inside USS Aqua, Captain Ronald Fischer was at loss to explain the occurrence. There was panic among the crew members.

‘Let me talk through Captain Ronald’ said Rudra. He focused on the captain’s mind and soon gained control over it. Rudra then spoke through the captain on the public address system. ‘This is your captain speaking. Very soon a rescue operation is about to begin.
In the movie :

Robert Fischer ( Cillian Murphy) is an important character and the victim of inception.

5.Sedative on the flight

Both of them enjoyed their drink and then dozed off. As they went into deep slumber, both of them had a dream. They saw Juniper the blowfish. She was looking very run down. Her big bright eyes were drooping and her loud smile was missing.
‘Tulpi and Rudra I seek your help. My children are in distress. Recently a fisherman who is a dealer of ornamental fishes captured them. He sold them to a collector in Los Angeles. The children are presently on your flight. He has mixed some sedative in their aquariums to make them sleep during the flight. It is important for blowfishes to be asleep at such high altitudes because that brings down their oxygen requirement and keeps them alive.
The patent for this sedative is held by a Japanese manufacturer who has refused to sell it to anyone. It was impossible for any individual or company to export live blowfishes by air without the sedative. Our species fetch thousands of dollars a piece in the U.S. Hence it is a very lucrative proposition to deal in. This dealer, who got my children, procured an imitation of this sedative from a spurious manufacturer in Hong Kong. Its efficacy is doubtful and my children are still awake. I know they won’t sleep till they hear the lullaby I sing to them. If they don’t sleep in the next few minutes, they will die! So, please for God sake do something! Save my children!’ pleaded Juniper.

Tulpi and Rudra heard the entire story and then woke up together.
‘Was Juniper in your dream?’ they asked each other.
‘Huh!’ said Tulpi ‘So we both saw what we saw.’

In the movie :

Fischer is sedated on a 10 hour flight to Australia by mixing the sedative in his drinking water. Inception is carried out during this period by a team headed by Cobb who are on board at that time.

6. Returning to the physical bodies / real world

Just then there was an announcement in the passenger cabin, ‘We are experiencing bad weather. The plane is about to enter an air pocket. There might be jerks and jolts ahead. All passengers are requested to kindly fasten their seat belts.’
‘Rudra I think you should go back to our seat in the passenger cabin’ said Tulpi. ‘Remember what the Lama had said.’
‘Yes, our physical bodies should remain untouched and undisturbed till we are in the astral form’ said Rudra.

‘It can lead to detachment of our souls from the body’ said Tulpi.
‘Or in other words you mean death!’ said Rudra.
‘Putting it bluntly, yes’ said Tulpi.
‘Off I go’ said Rudra and returned immediately to his physical body.

As soon as he opened his eyes, appearing to have woken up from a deep slumber, he saw the airhostess standing next to him.
‘Please fasten your seat belts Sir’ she reminded.
‘Yes, of course’ said Rudra.

----------------

‘Well done Rudra!’ said Tulpi.
Both of them were present there in their astral forms. A premonition had alerted them about the forthcoming mishap.
‘But we couldn’t stop him from jumping in the river’ replied Rudra.
‘He was possessed by a dark angel. His mind was not his own and that’s why it did not connect to us’ explained Tulpi.
‘You always seem to have an answer’ said Rudra, and then both of them returned to their physical bodies at the Sangla Monastery.

In the movie :

There is mention of protecting the physical body while the person is dreaming. A sudden awakening can be lethal.

[eve]

The movie was too long and pretty obvious. With all the great reviews, I expected more. Teens loved it because it's like their video games where they can all play together online, etc. It's going to make $$$$ because they don't get it the first time, so they'll go see it again and again and again until they do. Kudos to Nolan for exploiting the intelligence (or lack of it) of our moviegoing audience. Boy...teens today are clueless.I watched it on an IMAX screen and paid more. It wasn't worth it. If you are going to see it, see it on a regular screen.

[swf]

Inception. A sci-fi caper.
The concept of planting an idea in someone's head during dreamstate that they will believe is their own.
Currently successfully practiced by politicans, lobbyists and motion picture marketeers.

[swf]

...but the process has been mastered by Fox News.

[Hal O'Brien]

"Why is every one 'crowing' over "Inception" beating out "Salt" at the box office over the weekend?"

Yeah, that beats the heck out of me, too. Angelina Jolie usually doesn't open a movie strongly.

I predicted a $35.1M opening for "Salt" on BoxOfficeMojo's derby. The estimate right now is $36.5M. I had "Inception" beating it with a 40% fall-off; instead it had 30% fall-off, so it did better than I expected.

As it is, at $35.1M "Salt" is only Jolie's 3rd-best live-action opening -- "Wanted," "Mr & Mrs Smith," and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" all opened bigger, with smaller populations and lower ticket prices. (Jolie's also had two animated voice-overs open bigger -- "Kung Fu Panda" and "Sark Tale.") Her tickets per capita continue to drop.

I suspect Jolie has the same problem Sarah Palin does, image-wise: Only some men and "mean girls" who see themselves in her like her. Whether that's justifiable (in either case) I have no idea, but it makes for limited appeal.