'Inception' No. 1 at box office for third straight weekend

From Brandon Gray's weekly analysis at BoxOfficeMojo.com:

Inception remained lodged in moviegoers' minds for the third weekend in a row, while Dinner for Schmucks yukked it up in second and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore was neutered. Overall business was up 13 percent over the same weekend last year when Funny People led, but was still weak for the time of year.

Slipping just 36 percent, Inception drew $27.5 million, elevating its total to $193.3 million in 17 days. Christopher Nolan's dream caper was the fourth movie of the year to spend three weekends at No. 1, following Avatar, Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Shrek Forever After. Like Shrek, its reign was aided by facing new releases that weren't up to snuff as summer contenders, particularly for this latest weekend.

Inception surpassed Despicable Me to become the seventh highest-grossing movie from 2010. More importantly, it essentially matched the entire runs of comparable titles I, Robot, The Matrix Revolutions and Minority Report in terms of estimated attendance. IMAX presentations accounted for an estimated $3.4 million of Inception's weekend gross (down 29 percent) and $22 million of its total.

Dinner for Schmucks served up $23.5 million on approximately 3,400 screens at 2,911 locations, which was about the same amount as Funny People made on the same weekend last year. The opening was also a step up from I Love You, Man, Role Models and Get Him to the Greek, and it marked a personal best for Paul Rudd in a lead role, though Steve Carell has seen bigger starts. The two actors, who were at the forefront of the advertising (with an assist from lower-billed Zach Galifianakis), previously appeared together in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, though both pictures had greater attendance out of the gate. Distributor Paramount Pictures' exit polling indicated that 55 percent of the audience was male, and 54 percent over 25 years old.