Inception | featured news

Chinese box office takings surged 64 percent to $1.5 billion in 2010. Film officials say the figure still lags more developed markets and urged local filmmakers to make better movies that can compete with Hollywood blockbusters like "Avatar" and "Inception."

EXCLUSIVE: While Tom Hardy's plan to play Mad Max in the George Miller-directed Mad Max: Fury Road has hit another delay, the fast-rising Hardy's in the mix for another big film at Warner Bros.

"Inception" ruled the North American box office for a third weekend on Sunday, fending off three middling newcomers led by "Dinner for Schmucks" at No. 2.

Steve Carell comedy opens at No. 1 with $8.4 million, followed by "Inception's" $8.2 million and "Salt's" third place, $5.9 million showing.

FRIDAY 9:45 PM: Sources just gave me these very early box office numbers for today. I'll refine them when I post my analysis:
1 - Dinner For Schmucks (Paramount)
$8.5M Friday, $24M Est Weekend
2 - Inception (Warner Bros)
$8M Friday, $27M Est Weekend
3 - Salt (Sony)
$5.6M Friday, $18M Est Weekend

Angelina Jolie's "Salt" gave "Inception" a run for its money with a $12.7 mil debut Friday versus "Inception's" $13.2 daily tally.

Leonardo DiCaprio's "Inception" is anything but a sleeper as the thriller opened big with $60.4 million and a No. 1 finish at the weekend boxoffice.

Christopher Nolan is having a fantastic Saturday. Jerry Bruckheimer is not. For the Dark Knight director scored over $21 million on Friday for his original, mind-bending film Inception. (That includes the $3 million brought in from the opening midnight shows.) The Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer, from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, could now earn $60 million for its three-day opening frame. That’s quite a contrast to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Disney’s failed attempt to recreate the magic of The National Treasure franchise. The film from Treasure producer Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and star Nicolas Cage grossed an estimated $5 million on Friday for a weekend take that may just hit $15 million. The film opened on Wednesday but even those two days of grosses won’t help the film get much past $20 million for the five-day period.

This week at the movies, we've got a mind-bending dreamworld (Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page) and a modern-day fantasia (The Sorcerer's Apprentice, starring Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel). What do the critics have to say? Christopher Nolan is on a roll. He took the superhero movie to new heights with The Dark Knight, and now he's back with Inception, which critics are calling an ambitious, dreamy sci-fi heist movie that's quite a mind bender. For those who can't wait for the next Harry Potter installment, The Sorcerer's Apprentice provides plenty of wizards and sorcery.

Empire magazine talked to Christopher Nolan, whose new film Inception opens July 16, and got some great quotes from the helmer on the next Batman movie , coming July 20, 2012, and next Superman movie, targeted for a holiday 2012 release.