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Finishing second this weekend is not Step Up 3D (thank goodness). Instead, it's the summer-saver, Inception. Now in its fourth weekend, the Leo DiCaprio think-fest is cooling a little this weekend, as it grossed $18.6 million, and dropped 32% compared to last weekend's top spot finish. Inception crossed the $200 million mark on Tuesday, giving director Chris Nolan his third $200 million plus release out his last four films. It also passed Batman Begins on Thursday to become the director's second biggest film behind only The Dark Knight. The $160 million Warner Bros. flick has now grossed over $170 million overseas, and has earned $227.7 million domestically.

Third goes to Step Up 3D, the mix of dance and higher ticket prices. Tracking forecasted that Step Up 3D would open above $20 million, but Step Up stepped down, earning $15.5 million from 2,435 venues – 1,800 of those 3D venues. The first Step Up opened in 2006, as the small, $12 million film opened to $20.7 million and went on to earn over $100 million worldwide for Disney. Step Up 2 The Streets was released in 2008, and opened to a smaller $18.9 million. It grossed less domestically than the first, coming in at $58 million, but was much bigger overseas, taking in $92 million, for a $150 million total. The second film was also cheap to make, costing the studio only $17.5 million. With those numbers, how could one not green-light the third film? For Step Up 3D, the odds are higher. Production costs moved up to $40 million – Summit Entertainment was brought in to reduce Disney's risk by taking half the production costs for some of the lucrative overseas markets, so eventually, everyone's going to be pleased by the results.

Sitting in fourth place is Salt, a film that is going to end up as one part forgettable, one part financially successful. Sony's spy flick, starring Angelina Jolie, earned another $11.1 million in its third weekend; however, like last weekend's 46% drop, the plunge is big again at 43%. With its meh-inducing 58% fresh rating and a gross that's going to finish right around its $110 million production costs, Salt is going to end up as a yawn, but foreign grosses and DVD will make it a winner for Sony.

Fifth goes to Dinner For Schmucks, the Paramout/DreamWorks release that got off to an okay $23.5 million open last weekend. While films like Schmucks are funny, they win by losing, putting their characters in heavily uncomfortable situations. That can lead to negative word-of-mouth, and with that, combined with heavy competition from The Other Guys, Dinner With Schmucks got spanked this weekend. Schmucks earned $10.5 million and dropped a nasty-for-comedy 55%, which pretty much eliminates any hope for a $100 million success with this one. Schmucks cost Paramount somewhere between $55 and $70 million, and has a gross so far of $46.7 million.

Another Carell film, Despicable Me, finishes in sixth place, still going strong after five weekends of release. Despicable Me earned another $9.4 million and still held strong, dropping only 39%. The Universal release crossed the $200 million mark on Thursday, and like Inception, is a new idea that has the word-of-mouth and finances to become a franchise. The $69 million dollar film – cheap in today's 3D animated market – has now grossed $209.4 million domestically, and is just getting started overseas.

Seventh is the big 3D miss of the summer, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. After flopping last weekend with a $12.3 million opening, its fortunes didn't improve, as the Warner Bros. miss earned only $6.9 million in its second frame. It was off 44%. The $85 million flick has now earned only $26.4 million.

Charlie St. Cloud fares even worse than Cats & Dogs this weekend, as this dog had few show up for the second weekend of the Zac Efron flick. Charlie fell a scary 62% this weekend, as the $45 million Universal flick earned only $4.7 million. It has a running total of $23.5 million.

Toy Story 3 finished ninth with a gross of $3 million. It was off 41%, and continues to propel itself toward a domestic total of $400 million. So far, the Pixar release has earned $396.3 million on the domestic front, and is already approaching $450 million from overseas cinemas. No wonder Disney and Pixar spent $200 million on this one.

It was a very close race for the final spot in the top ten. Grown Ups, Twilight: Eclipse, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Kids Are All Right were all in the mix, with The Kids Are All Right taking the flag. The Annette Bening/Julianne Moore/Mark Ruffalo indie flick from Focus earned $2.6 million this weekend, was off 26%, and now has a domestic take of $14 million.

Overall this weekend, the box office couldn't keep up with last year. A year ago, G.I. Joe opened to $54.7 million, and the difference between that and The Other Guys is about the difference in the overall box office. Last year, the top 12 films brought in $132 million. This year, the top 12 earned $122.8 million. Next weekend should bring another interesting frame. Julia Roberts opens Eat Pray Love for Sony, The Expendables opens for Lionsgate, and the wildcard just may be Scott Pilgrim vs The World – as the Michael Cera flick currently sits with an 88% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes.

Top Weekend Box Office for 8/6/10-8/8/10 (Actuals)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Actual Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	The Other Guys	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$35,600,000	$35,543,162	New	$35,543,162
2	Inception	Warner Bros. Pictures	$18,600,000	$18,505,470	- 32.7%	$227,637,569
3	Step Up 3D	Touchstone Pictures	$15,532,000	$15,812,311	New	$15,812,311
4	Salt	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$11,100,000	$10,908,204	- 44.0%	$91,788,345
5	Dinner for Schmucks	Paramount Pictures	$10,500,000	$10,375,397	- 55.9%	$46,620,949
6	Despicable Me	Universal Pictures	$9,436,945	$9,283,360	- 40.2%	$209,287,345
7	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Warner Bros. Pictures	$6,910,000	$6,902,116	- 43.8%	$26,428,266
8	Charlie St. Cloud	Universal Pictures	$4,700,625	$4,700,490	- 62.0%	$23,496,620
9	Toy Story 3	Walt Disney Pictures	$3,048,000	$3,119,088	- 39.1%	$396,387,342
10	The Kids Are All Right	Focus Features	$2,606,238	$2,597,177	- 26.3%	$14,040,182
11	Grown Ups	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$2,450,000	$2,407,379	- 47.1%	$155,670,603
12	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Walt Disney Pictures	$2,352,000	$2,361,228	- 47.1%	$57,062,845
	Also Opening/Notables
	Middle Men	Paramount Vantage	$305,000	$325,641	New	$325,641
	Flipped	Warner Bros.	$234,000	$224,233	New	$224,233
	Twelve	Hannover House	$107,303	$110,238	New	$110,238
	Cairo Time	IFC Films	$65,000	$65,000	New	$65,000
	The Wildest Dream	National Geographic	$64,605	$67,848	New	$67,848
	The Disappearance of Alice Creed	Anchor Bay	N/A	$40,258	New	$40,258
	Lebanon	Sony Classics	$16,768	$17,145	New	$17,145
	The Sicilian Girl	Music Box	N/A	$5,922	New	$9,054
	Brotherhood	Olive Films	N/A	$2,431	New	$2,431
	The Oxford Murders	Magnolia	N/A	$1,191	New	$1,191
	Get Low		$234,095	$219,124	+148.5%	$350,336
	The Concert	Weinstein Co.	$70,000	$70,000	New	$106,000
	Ramona and Beezus	20th Century Fox	$1,575,000	$1,617,123	- 56.4%	$21,068,783
	The Twilight Saga: Eclipse	Summit Entertainment	$2,300,000	$2,290,262	- 43.0%	$293,101,870
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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