Weekend Box Office: For the first time in a month, a new #1
Proof perhaps that Cop Out was less a failure of concept than a failure of execution, the Adam McKay-directed Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys easily took the #1 spot in its opening weekend, earning $35.6 million to finally knock Inception off the top spot. (As consolation, Inception continued to drop only modestly, and added another $18.6 million to reach a $227.7 million domestic gross. Added that to international, and Nolan’s mind-bender is closer to half a billion.) The Other Guys also represented a slight improvement—$5 million better, roughly—over last summer’s McKay-Ferrell joint Step Brothers. The week’s other opener, Step Up 3-D, took third with $15.5 million, but considering its modest budget ($30 million), a modest debut like that will more than suffice. We’re looking forward to the dance franchise to open up a fourth dimension.