Box Office: 'Inception' is Leonardo DiCaprio's biggest opening ever with $60.4 million

Marion Cotillard in "Inception."

Credit: Warner Bros.

Will America take a dark thriller seriously in the summer?  After "Inception's" $60.4 million opening weekend, the answer in 2010 appears to be "yes."  

The Christopher Nolan epic is officially star Leonardo DiCaprio's biggest debut ever (shoot, it's already made more than 2008's "Blood Diamond") and proves smart films can still open to blockbuster numbers in this day and age.  Whether it recoups its $200 million budget domestically remains to be seen, but the critically acclaimed film should play for sometime with little competition for the rest of the summer.

In second place was "Despicable Me" with another $32.7 million and a spectacular $118.3 million in just 10 days.  Can you say "sequel"?

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" managed just $17.3 million over the 3-day for a new total of $24.4 million since it opened on Wednesday.  No matter what the overall budget, a very disappointing debut for the Nicolas Cage/Jay Baruchel adventure.  

"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" rose to $264.9 million after a $13.5 million weekend.  The third installment should come close to matching "New Moon's" $296 million, but crossing the $300 mark will be a close call for the vampire thriller.

Fifth place when to "Toy Story 3" which grossed another $11.4 million for an astounding $362.7 million.  The Pixar sequel is far and away the biggest hit of the summer.  Next up is the $400 million mark which should happen by no later than early August.

In limited release, "The Kids Are All Right" followed up a spectacular debut by expanding into just 38 theaters for a potent $27,000 average, a $1 million take and an exceptional $1.7 million so far.  Fox Searchlight's "Cyrus" also continues to play well in limited release with another $1 million in 446 theaters for a new cume of $5 million so far.

Other new totals include $129 million for "Grown Ups," "Predators" hitting $40 million, "The Karate Kid" at $169 million, "Get Him to the Greek" racing to $60 million, "The A-Team" finding $75 million and "Iron Man 2" sneaking past the $310 million mark.

Next weekend finds the debut of Angelina Jolie's "Salt."

Weekend actuals are released on Monday.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

• Follow

With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.