Salt can't shake Inception
2010-07-25 20:22
Los Angeles - Angelina Jolie's new spy thriller Salt failed to take the North American box office crown from Leonardo DiCaprio's Inception, which enjoyed a stronger-than-expected hold in its second weekend.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, Inception earned $43.5m during the three days beginning on Friday, while Salt was at No 2 with $36.5m.
Pundits had predicted Salt might hit the $40m range, although distributor Columbia Pictures said the opening was in line with its expectations.
The three-day estimate represents a significant drop from the $50m openings for each of Jolie's last big films, Wanted and Mr and Mrs Smith.
Jolie earned $20m for Salt, a timely thriller about Russian sleeper spies preparing to bring the United States to its knees. The high-energy action role was originally envisaged for Tom Cruise, who went on to make the box office dud Knight and Day instead.
Inception, starring DiCaprio as a thief who steals secrets from deep within people's subconscious, raced to $143.7m after 10 days, thanks to a drop of just 31% from last weekend.
Movies generally lose about half of their opening-weekend audience.
"It's driven by word of mouth, it's driven by repeat business already," Warner Brothers domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said of the film's strong hold.
The $160m project was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the English film-maker responsible for the last two Batman movies.
Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony. Warner Brothers Pictures is a unit of Time Warner.