That sputtering sound you hear is the summer movie season winding down, though the lack of compelling box office news doesn’t mean that nothing’s making money, just that the competition is a little less robust than in May, June, and early July. The Angelina Jolie actioner Salt was the strongest of the openers with $36.5 million, a solid enough total, but not enough to upend Christopher Nolan’s Inception, which took another $43.5 million on its second week, pushing its 10-day total to $143.7 million. The good news for Inception and last week’s #2 (and this week’s #3) Despicable Me is that neither dropped off too sharply from their opening frame—30.7% for the former, 26.5% for the latter—so they should earn healthy grosses through the end of August. (The Last Airbender, on the other hand…) The week’s other opener, the family film Ramona And Beezus earned a much more modest $8 million for sixth place, but with a budget ($15 million) that can withstand a little modesty.
Nothing much happening in limited release, save for the continued windfall reaped by The Kids Are All Right, which took another $13,174 per screen, making it the three straight week with the highest average of any movie currently in release. The reissue of Sally Potter’s Orlando earned $11,400 on two screens, suggesting that most of its business will come on DVD.
More detailed numbers at Box Office Mojo.