Box Office, Weekend Box Office | featured news

Moviegoers wanted to get scared just as much as they wanted to enjoy a good crime caper this weekend, but very few were interested in a return trip to Pandora. Based on studio estimates released Sunday morning, indie horror film "The Last Exorcism" and heist film "Takers" were in a virtual dead heat, with both selling about $21 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada for the weekend.

Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables" fought off an onslaught of newcomers to finish on top of the weekend box office again.

Maybe movie stars aren't so expendable. At a time when pricey talent is thought to yield diminishing returns for film studios, Lionsgate's star-studded "The Expendables" easily topped the weekend boxoffice with an estimated $35 million in domestic coin. The testosterone-spiked actioner outpaced an impressive $23.7 million bow by Sony's female-targeted Julia Roberts starrer "Eat Pray Love" in second place, while Universal's geek-seeking "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" debuted with a dismal $10.5 million in fifth place.

"The Other Guys" are the main guys at the boxoffice, knocking off "Inception" to take the No. 1 spot. The buddy-cop parody starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg made $35.6 million in its opening weekend, according to Sunday estimates from Sony Pictures.

Leonardo DiCaprio's "Inception" has won a battle of superstar action thrillers over Angelina Jolie's "Salt" at the weekend box office.

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.

Sure, Twilight Saga: Eclipse dropped from its crazy opening day of $68.5 million, and yes, The Last Airbender has been destroyed by critics. Even so, the holiday weekend’s two new wide releases scored enough business to make this year’s Fourth of July box office bigger than what Ice Age 3 and Public Enemies brought in at this time last year.

Movie fans have not outgrown the "Toy Story 3" gang. The animated sequel about toys that come to life leaped to the No. 1 spot with a $109 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Hollywood is in a June swoon as a rush of new movies fails to grab audiences. "Shrek Forever After" remained the No. 1 movie for a third-straight weekend with $25.3 million.
The best of the newcomers was the rock 'n' roll comedy "Get Him to the Greek," which debuted at No. 2 with $17.4 million. Opening at No. 3 was the action comedy "Killers" with $16.1 million.

With a significant drop for "Sex and the City" on Saturday and just mid-level earnings for "Prince of Persia," "Shrek Forever After" is on track to win what looks like the slowest Memorial Day holiday weekend at the box office in a decade.