The Expendables laid a smackdown on all other films at cineplexes this weekend, its conclave of ‘80s action heroes returning to snatch the number one spot.
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and featuring cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the flick promised a meaty clash of the titans – and earned itself an opening weekend of $35m.
Not that other ‘80s icon Julia Roberts didn’t have a good pop at them first with her spiritual awakening flick Eat Pray Love. But Ms Roberts had to settle for second place and $23m.
Meanwhile third place went to The Other Guys , who had a strong second weekend with $18m (those positive reviews probably helped), and Inception slipped from second to fourth place after five weeks in the top ten with $11m.
But wait, wasn’t Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World opening this weekend as well? Yup, he sure was – but for some reason the fanboys and girls didn’t seem too fussed, and Pilgrim entered the charts in just fifth place with $10.5m. Fingers crossed that excellent worth of mouth keeps Pilgrim ’s money pots spinning.
Despicable Me stuck fast to sixth place this weekend with $6.7m, while both Step Up 3D and Salt took spectacular nose dives, the former from third to seventh with $6.6m, the latter from fourth to eighth with $6.3m.
Rounding out the top ten, Dinner For Schmucks somehow siphoned $6.3m out of movie-goers (perhaps the ones who couldn’t get into full-booked Other Guys screenings), and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore sat in the bottom spot with just $4m. Bad kitty.
