Seven-Day Summary: 'Other Guys' Assert Authority
In one of star Will Ferrell's biggest-grossing starts yet, The Other Guys easily topped the box office in its first week. After three weeks securely in first, Inception dropped down a spot, but it continued to hold extremely well. Step Up 3-D drastically underperformed in comparison to its predecessors. Overall box office was down around eight percent from the same timeframe last year, when G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra led with $76.3 million.

The Other Guys opened to a strong $52.5 million, which represented Ferrell's second highest-grossing seven-day start behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. When adjusting for ticket price inflation, though, The Other Guys's debut was right in line with Blades of Glory and Step Brothers. For distributor Sony Pictures, The Other Guys marks its fourth-straight movie with an opening week over $50 million, after The Karate Kid, Grown Ups and Salt.

Inception dipped 35 percent to $28.1 million, bringing its four-week total to $237.2 million. On Thursday, it passed Shrek Forever After to move in to fifth place on the 2010 chart.

Step Up 3-D grossed just $22.9 million through its first seven days. This was down from Step Up ($29.6 million) and Step Up 2 the Streets ($30.7 million) and looks even worse in terms of attendance, considering most of Step Up 3-D's viewers paid a 3D ticket price premium.

Salt finished in fourth place for the week, down 44 percent to $16.3 million. In three weeks, the Angelina Jolie action-thriller has grossed $97.2 million and will easily pass the $100 million mark this weekend.

Dinner for Schmucks rounded out the Top Five, off a rough 55 percent to $16.3 million (only $84,000 separated Schmucks from Salt). Its two-week total of $52.5 million is exactly the same as The Other Guys's one week number, clearly indicating which of the late summer comedies will be end up on top.

Out of last week's other new releases, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore held up the best, off 41 percent to $11.5 million for a total of $31 million. Charlie St. Cloud, on the other hand, took a steep 58 percent decline, earning $7.9 million for a total of $26.7 million.

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Related Charts

Weekly Box Office, August 6-12

• Daily Grosses

• All-Time Domestic Grosses