Leo DiCaprio's Inception Beats Angelina Jolie's Salt at Box Office

Entertainment July 25, 2010 AT 3:59PM
Leo DiCaprio's Inception Beats Angelina Jolie's Salt at Box Office Credit: Gennady Avramenko/Epsilon/Getty Images

Leo beat Angelina.

Salt, Angelina Jolie's first flick in two years, earned an estimated $36.5 million in its opening weekend, according to the Associated Press.

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Although that's a solid, strong start, the well-reviewed spy thriller wasn't the weekend's highest grossing -- that was Leonardo DiCaprio's buzzed-about Inception, which nabbed approximately $43.5 million in its second weekend in theaters.

The weekend's other new entry, kids' flick Romana and Beezus (starring Selena Gomez), failed to attract much interest, nabbing just $8 million.

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"What the movie really has going for it just a kick-ass performance by Angelina Jolie," Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony (the studio behind Salt) told the AP.

According to Sony, Jolie's action film -- in which she plays a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy -- was a big hit with older, female audiences. 53% of Salt's audience was female, while 59% of the viewers were over the age of 25. Jolie reportedly earned $20 million for the film -- her first project after giving birth to Knox and Vivienne, her 2-year-old twins with Brad Pitt.

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Tell Us: did you see Salt this weekend? What did you think?

Tell Us What You Think

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  • August 25, 2010 - 6:51pm Katelynn

    Loved Salt, appreciated Inception. The Prestige is one of my favorite films, but let's face it, it's fun to watch a tough woman tear things up. There's just something instinctual about it and Angelina Jolie is fantastic!!!!

  • August 17, 2010 - 6:46pm cami

    inception was different. it presnted something that any smart person should know, but just gave it a new light. salt was alright the same old kick butt action stuff but the plot was lame. and america is over the cold war now. plus it was predictable. ppl in the other comments have no lives so they r easily offended by someone bashing a celebrity they don't even know and resort to bashing. they can't look at things objectively. i would say inception is the better movie bc it presents an old concept in a newer light. it took christopher nolan 10 yrs to bring it to the screen and his hard work shows. hans zimmer did a great job on the soundtrack. and everyone in the movie gave good performances. the perfomances in salt were good but the story has been done many times before and the little twist added to this soviet vs. america stance was not enough. also i hate it when ppl butcher history with stupidity. yeah harvey lee oswald was replaced by a russian mole and assassinated JFK. plain stupidness and if they were gonna mention it they should have elaborated.

  • August 17, 2010 - 3:18pm hmm

    Hopefully they will recover their invesment in the UK because if not probably overpaid Angie. Most of these celebrities are anyway. The clock is ticking on her butt kicking days and sexy roles (too skinny) and her dramas never seem to be that big of a hit either.

  • August 17, 2010 - 1:55am Lin

    Will H, you really need to pay attention. Salt did NOT flop. One of the reasons Inception has taken in more money is because some people just do not get it and have gone back two and three times. Not just a few people. A LOT of people.

  • August 17, 2010 - 1:54am Lin

    Lucy, Angelina talks about her children ALL the time. Every single interview she gives she talks about them, she does not just talk about Brad. She IS a real parent, and Brad has said in interviews that she is a very good mother. Shame on you.

  • August 17, 2010 - 1:50am Lin

    How stupid! Angelina is NOT going bald. She was wearing wigs in the movie as part of the ROLE she was playing for a disguise. It should not take much effort to figure that out, but obviously some people are too dense to do so.

  • August 17, 2010 - 1:46am Lin

    I saw both, and I liked Salt better! I was able to follow Inception in spite of it being hard to follow, and I usually like stuff like that, but, all in all, I did not care for Inception. Salt is the better movie. Inception is extremely violent. The special effects are great, and I could not believe it when I found myself not caring much for much of it, but I didn't.

  • August 16, 2010 - 5:05pm salt

    is in no 8 position. in three weeks it fell to 8th place... people are not stupid her fans couldn't even take it to the top 5...

  • August 13, 2010 - 8:20am Filomena

    I could just stare at Leonardo DiCaprio all day. ahhhhhhhh

  • August 09, 2010 - 11:27am HEY BETSY

    4th place is not good, I guess you have be be a brainless twitt not to get Inception, and really enjoy Salt, but there you are, you said it and I agreed with you..you know you could have just walked out instead of staying to watch a movie that apparently was over your heads. Its pretty lame to stay and watch a movie you don't understand.but I bet your a mangie fan..

  • August 06, 2010 - 4:11pm Betsy

    I have no idea how Inception keeps getting such good reviews. It was boring and horrible. I actually fell asleep and my husband forced me to wake up because he didn't want to suffer through the movie by himself. We kept waiting for it to make sense and be cool. It never did. Jolie's Salt was a fast-paced, action thriller and I usually don't enjoy those, but I did like this one. Inception is overrated.

  • August 04, 2010 - 8:00pm matt

    DON'T BE SO SURE ABOUT THE BOX OFFICE RANK THE GAME IS NOT OVER YET. SALT IS NOT YET RELEASED IN THE UK. INCEPTION IS FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKES DREAMING THAN LIVING IN REALITY.

  • July 28, 2010 - 12:56pm LMAO

    why would they be talking sequels when the first one fell flat. Angie says if the people want more salt they will give it to us.. Ha ha we dint even want the first one, the only reason it is even 2nd is because there is nothing out there worth watching at all.

  • July 28, 2010 - 12:01pm MiaRia

    MoMollie - you are the voice of reason. This was about Leo and Angelina. Jennifer Aniston had NOTHING to do with either movie. It has been over 7-years since Brad & Jen split and why the people portray Angie as a home wrecker at this point is futile. First and foremost - there has to be a "home" to "wreck", and obviously Jen was more concerned about her career than her home. BTW - you couldn't pay me to sit through a pathetic Jennifer Aniston movie. She is totally one dimensional and each of her projects target her old "Friends" fan base. Also check the stats - "The Bounty Hunter" domestic total as of Jul. 5, 2010 is $67,061,228 with Jen's salary of $8 million. See quote below: 3. The Bounty Hunter (Relativity/Sony) NEW [3,074 Theaters] Friday $7.6M, Saturday $8.2M, Weekend $20.5M This is an embarrassingly soft opening considering the tabloid celebpower (Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler) and the wide release and omnipresent marketing. Maybe audiences are tiring of these imbecilic romantic comedies? Or these flack-phonied romances between stars leading up to the films' opening? Stop the stupidity, Hollywood.

  • July 27, 2010 - 5:07pm BJ

    Love Angie!...and love Sharpie and these fun colors!!! xo

  • July 27, 2010 - 4:52pm NO WONDER SALT FLOPPED

    Is ANGIE going BALD????Whats up with all the WIGS?????

  • July 27, 2010 - 4:12pm @amelia

    alice in woderland cost like 10 times more to make than TBH! i believe that no matter which actor is involved, the movie which cost the most and has the most special effects or is even 3-D should come out on top. it was a no freaking brainer than alice in wonderland was on top! salt's production budget was very similar to Inceptions and the marketing budget was no doubt higher too yet it still lost out! that's embarrassing especially since all the loons kept going on and on about how angelina is the only actress that can take on any actor for the top spot. shame she lost. last note, TBH production budget= 40 million, salt= 130 million, so the bounty hunter basically made up for half of it's production budget in it's first weekend (and that was just a story about two ex-lovers, there was no grand storyline or visual effects yet people still went to go watch it because of the two main leads), salt still has a long way to go to get anywhere near to cover costs!

  • July 27, 2010 - 2:52pm amelie

    ok for the record, 35M is strong enough for an opening. leo's inception is strong because of the visual effects and the novel story. but you cant say salt didn't do good. the bounty hunter on its opening week, came 3rd and with only 20M at the ticket. it was beaten by alice in wonderland on its 2nd week and diary of a wimpy kid (on it's 3rd week). plus, jen can't take the credit all by herself. i'm sure gerald butler fans made contributions too. so that's it, wallpaper jen's stupid roncom actually bombed!

  • July 27, 2010 - 12:43pm Candace Serviss

    No one can rock an action pic like Angelina..beautiful to boot!

  • July 27, 2010 - 11:45am MC

    I enjoyed Inception and Salt. I think Angelina Jolie really proved that she is a good actress and can kick butt. She doesn't look too skinny in the movie either.

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