Box Office

From ew [excerpt], Will Ferrell connected with audiences as a bumbling, clueless cop opposite an easy-to-rage Mark Wahlberg. The Other Guys earned an estimated $35.6 million, marking Ferrell’s second highest grossing opener ever and the first film to knock Inception out of the top spot. The other new wide release, Step Up 3D, benefited little from the extra dimension. In fact, the third iteration in the dance franchise opened to third place and $15 million, the lowest bow of the loosely connected trilogy. And the two films together couldn’t top the weekend box office tally one year ago this week, when G.I. Joe and Julie and Julia opened. Total box office was down some 7 percent.

Inception continues to astound. The film dropped a modest 32 percent for $18.6 million and a second place finish. Its total gross has now reached $228 million in four weeks of release. Salt landed in fourth place in its third weekend in theaters. The Angelina Jolie starrer dropped only 44 percent to $10.9 million and its cume edges closer to $100 million, standing at $91.8 million. Despicable Me took the sixth slot for the weekend, losing only 39 percent of its value. Earning $9.4 million; the original animated flick’s total cume stands at $209 million.