Inside Job

We thought we’d get the “stealing” pun out of the way quickly and move on to report that Inside Man has scored the top spot at the US box office this weekend, with a $29 million opening. The Denzel Washington/Clive Owen-starrer romped home above last week’s champ V For Vendetta, which dropped 51 percent from its opening to grab a further $12.3 million.

Third place went to the second major new opening, Stay Alive, which has a pack of disposable teen characters at the mercy of a killer computer game. The film had a healthy start with $11.2 million. Matthew McConaughey’s rom-com Failure To Launch continued to fly with audiences, grabbing $10.8 million, and bringing its total to $62 million in the US.

Fifth was Tim Allen’s Disney comedy The Shaggy Dog, which has begun its trip to the vets for an appointment with the chart needle (translation: it’s slipping down the list) with $9 million. Shakespearean teen update She’s The Man - Amanda Bynes’ latest vehicle - brought in $7.4 million in its second week for sixth. Seventh place was snatched by US redneck comedy god Larry The Cable Guy, whose catchphrase (“Git ‘er done”) hardly applies to the success of his first film. Health Inspector failed to get much done at all, taking just $7 million. Eighth was horror redo The Hills Have Eyes, which made $4.2 million for a total current take of $35.5 million.

Bringing up the bottom of the charts was Eight Below, which managed to hang on in at nine with $2.7 million and Bruce Willis vehicle 16 Blocks, which squeaked into the top 10 with $2.2 million.