Three weeks in and it doesn’t seem like Inception is going anywhere for the moment. The movie managed to make a little over 27 million in its third week on top of the charts. This weekend didn’t provide as much opposition as previous weeks. Dinner for Schmucks opened to a dismal 23 million dollar showing. While this is good news for Paul Rudd, who celebrates his highest grossing opening as a lead man, it doesn’t help Steve Carell who has fallen quite a bit since the days of 40 Year Old Virgin. The continued over exposure of Zach Galifianakis didn’t add a boost to a film that seemed destined for second place.
While, Dinner for Schmucks seems to suffer from more than just critical apathy, its moderate “success” cannot be understated. Get Him to the Greek, I Love You, Man and Role Models each fell short of a bigger opening weekend. In fact Dinner for Schmuck’s opening even surpasses last year’s Judd Apatow superstar comedy Funny People. The question begs to be asked whether or not there is any star power in comedies any more. Zach Galifianakis has never been known as a draw. However his association with Steve Carell and a bit of residual Hangover magic didn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference. Perhaps the comedy formula has fallen flat. Over the top comedies such as Hot Tub Time Machine couldn’t find extreme success either. Although, its low budget makes it easier to stomach.
The coming weeks will put Inception’s reign to its ultimate test. With a continued drop off and the release of a highly marketing Will Farrell movie The Other Guys it seems that Inception’s days on top may be numbered. If it does survive on top for a fourth consecutive week, it’ll be face to face with the anticipated release of The Expendables and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.