Judging by the Friday figures, it was looking like the awesome combined comedy power of Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and director Jay Roach with Dinner for Schmucks might actually be enough to topple the current box office champion, Inception. But by the end of play Sunday, Christopher Nolan’s Cobb and the team pulled off another victory to give the dream thieves a third week atop the charts in the States, Inception nabbing $27.5 million and the Schmucks running away with $23.3 million.
Still, Carell, Rudd and Roach won’t be too unhappy with that figure, even if we’ll have to wait and see whether their take on the French comedy Le Diner de Cons has Hangover-style legs.
Salt slipped down to third place, taking $19.2 million, while Despicable Me (more Carell) stole $15.5 million for fourth.
But even the kiddie/3D cash boost factor couldn’t save** Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galor****e**, with the animal spies sequel bringing in just $12.5 million, which hopefully means this might be the end for the franchise. That said, given the nine-year wait between the first two, maybe we should be wary that, like a horror movie villain, another one could spring up in a decade.
Zac Efron won’t be too thrilled either: his latest stab at grown-up filmmaking respectability, weepy Charlie St Cloud, couldn’t even crack the top five, arriving in sixth with $12.1 million. The rest of the chart, meanwhile was filled with Toy Story 3 in seventh ($5 million), Grown Ups at eighth ($4.5 million), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at ninth ($4.3 million) and **Twilight: Eclipse **bringing up the rear at 10th ($3.9 million).
To dream of all the charts you need, go stare at Box Office Mojo.