Seven-Day Summary: 'Expendables' Carry a Big Gun
The Expendables raided the box office this week, topping a strong opening from Eat Pray Love and a middling debut from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Among holdovers, The Other Guys fell hard, while Inception had its biggest drop yet. Overall box office was up around two percent from last year, when District 9 led the way with $54.6 million.

The Expendables grossed $48.4 million in its seven-day launch, which was more than Sylvester Stallone's last directorial effort Rambo made in its entire run. Its first week landed behind the $53.7 million start of the similar men-on-a-mission movie Inglourious Basterds from last August, but it was a much better start than The A-Team's $36 million earlier this summer.

While Julia Roberts alone wasn't a match for Stallone and crew, Eat Pray Love still logged a healthy $35.1 million opening week. This was ahead of Julie & Julia's $31.3 million debut last August, though the Meryl Streep-Amy Adams movie held better from Monday to Thursday.

The Other Guys finished in third place, off 51 percent to $25.6 million. The action comedy's decline was steeper than that of actor Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay's last collaboration, Step Brothers. Still, The Other Guys continues to lead Step Brothers in total gross with $78.1 million in 14 days.

Inception dipped 39 percent in its fifth week, earning $17 million. The movie crossed the $250 million mark on Monday, its 32nd day in theaters. Through its fifth week, the Christopher Nolan thriller has made a powerful $254.2 million.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World wound up in fifth place with $15.7 million, which was far lower than the opening weeks of similar genre fare like Kick-Ass ($25.4 million) and Zombieland ($32.8 million). However, it did out-gross the entire run of Shaun of the Dead ($13.5 million).

In milestone news, Toy Story 3 passed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Thursday to become the tenth highest-grossing movie of all-time, though it falls out of the Top 100 when adjusted for ticket price inflation and 3D premiums. Through its ninth week, the Pixar sequel has earned $402.3 million.

Related Stories

Weekend Report: 'Expendables' Pump Up, 'Eat Pray Love' Pigs Out, 'Scott Pilgrim' Powers Down




Related Charts

Weekly Box Office, August 13-19

• Daily Grosses

• All-Time Domestic Grosses