英语文摘:"Inception" reigns box office for third weekend

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Into the third weekend of screening in North America, "Inception" has succeeded in keeping its top money grossing crown, eclipsing all the other contenders with 27.5 million U.S. dollars in ticket receipts, the North America box office authority said on Sunday.

The only non-sequel blockbuster this summer which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, the contemporary mind-bending sci-fi spectacular is well on track to garner 193.3 million dollars, the projected statistics gathered in movie theaters in Canada and the United States showed.

Paramount's comedy "Dinner For Schmucks" opened in second place, and is estimated to take in 23.3 million dollars in 2,911 locations. The Steve Carrell comedy is loosely adapted from the 1998 French farce "Le Dinner de Cons (The Dinner Game)," and follows the misadventures of a corporate analyst named Tim (Paul Rudd), who wishes for a promotion that will enable him to marry his longtime live-in girlfriend and garner him a coveted move to an upper executives' floor at his office. Carell's performance even matched his stellar Emmy-winning turn as Michael Scott on the NBC sitcom "The Office."

"Salt," a Sony/Columbia action thriller which stars Angelina Jolie, has slipped into third place from last week's second, grossing 19.3 million dollars this weekend, for a total of 70.8 million dollars in two weeks.

"Despicable Me," Universal's computer-animated 3-D feature film, also saw its place go down to fourth place, which is estimated to take in 15.5 million dollars this weekend, for a total of 190.3 million dollars over four weeks.

At No.5 is one of this week's three debuts, "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (3-D)." The Warner Bros. family comedy is projected to gross 12.5 million dollars in limited release in 3, 705 theaters including 2,130 locations showing the picture in 3-D. Premiering more than nine years after the first movie, the kid flick is expected to win over a solid base of children through its plot and 3-D allure.

The week's remaining debut is Universal's "Charlie St. Cloud," Zac Efron's first major vehicle since "17 Again" in April 2009. At No.6, it is expected to harvest 12.1 million dollars in limited release in 2,720 locations in domestic market.