Wiki News/BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS: Can The Other Guys Laugh Their Way to the Top of the Charts

PREDICTED WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

As predicted last week, the new Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks and the family film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore were no match for director Christopher Nolan's Inception, which took the top spot at the box office for a third week in a row. But can the buzz-worthy film, which is already garnering Oscar consideration, be able to defend its crown once again this week against newcomers like the buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys or the dance film Step Up 3D?

Early predictions indicate that we will have a new box office champ this weekend, as the buddy-cop action/comedy film The Other Guys should take the top spot away from Nolan's Inception with an opening weekend total of $30.5 million. The film stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton and Eva Mendes. Currently it has an average rating of a 4.3 on our site. Out of the eighteen people who have rated the film ten have given it five stars while the trailer for the film has had over 14,000 views. Here is what one of our readers had to say about the new film: "Best Buddy cop film ever!"

Predicted to drop one place to number two for the first time in almost a month is Inception, the long awaited sci-fi action thriller from director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight). The film stars an incredible cast of actors including Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Ken Watanabe, Oscar winners Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Lukas Haas. Last weekend the film dropped 35.6% from the previous week and was seen on 247 less screens, but it still managed to earn roughly $7,763 in each of its 3,545 theaters for a weekend total of $27.5 million. Now in just three weeks the film has earned $193.3 million, which surpasses its purported $160 million production budget. It's predicted to add an additional $19.1 million to its total earnings this weekend at the box office.

Speaking of that, iCarly: The Movie will be cursed this weekend. Starring Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor will fall a little further than you ever imagine. Playing in 4,060 theaters, it will luckly to easily drop nearly 60 percent falling from first to third place, seemimng that Cosgrove is still the happiest girl in the world.

Predicted to debut at number three is the third in the extremely popular dance film series Step Up, Step Up 3D. The film stars Adam G. Sevani, Sharni Vinson and Rick Malambri. Currently the film has an average rating of a 3.9 on our site. Out of the nine people who have rated the film five have given it five stars while the trailer for the film has had over 8,000 views. The film is predicted to debut with $16.3 million this weekend at the box office.

Predicted to fall two spots from last week to number four is the workplace comedy Dinner for Schmucks starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Ron Livingston, Jemaine Clement, Bruce Greenwood and Zach Galifianakis. Last week the movie opened on 2,911 screens and earned about $8,004 on each for an opening weekend total of $23.3 million. The film is predicted to earn another $14.1 million this week, which will put it closer to earning back its initial $69 million production costs.

Rounding off the top five and predicted to fall two places from last week is Salt, the CIA espionage movie starring Angelina Jolie. In the film, Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent accused of being a Russian sleeper spy who must go on the run in order to clear her name. The film also stars Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012). While the movie fell almost 50% last week from its debut the previous week it still managed to earn $5,329 on each of its 3,612 screens for a combined total of $19.2 million this weekend. The film has now earned $70 million in just two weeks and is close to earning back its $110 million production costs. It's predicted to earn an additional $10.1 million this weekend at the box office.

The rest of the top ten films at the box office this weekend are predicted to look like this:

Predicted to fall two places this week to number six is Universal's animated film Despicable Me. The film, which centers around the world's greatest villain taking on the new challenge of raising three adorable little orphan girls, boasts an all-star cast of comedic voices including Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Danny McBride and Ken Jeong. While the movie may have dropped 34.4% last week from the previous week, it still added two new screens earning $4,315 in each of its 3,602 theaters for a total of $15.5 million for the weekend. Now in just under a month the movie has earned almost $200 million far surpassing its $69 million budget. The film is predicted to earn an additional $8.9 million this weekend at the box office.

Predicted to slip two places from number five last week to number seven is the sequel to the extremely successful family film Cats and Dogs, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. The film stars Chris O'Donnell (Batman Forever) along with an all-star cast of voice talent, which includes James Marsden (X2: X-Men United), Christina Applegate (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), comedian Katt Williams, Oscar nominee Nick Nolte (48 Hours) and the legendary Bette Midler (Ruthless People). The film debuted last week on 3,705 screens and earned $3,381 per screen for an opening weekend total of around $12.5 million, which is no where near recouping its $85 million production costs. The film is predicted to earn an additional $5.7 million this weekend at the box office.

Predicted to fall two spaces back to number eight this week is the brotherhood/afterlife film Charlie St. Cloud starring teen-sensation Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta, Donal Logue and Charlie Tahan. Despite the popular young actor the movie only earned $12.1 million in its debut last week and failed to crack the top five coming in sixth. It managed to make about $4,465 on each of its 2,718 last week and is predicted to earn an additional $5.6 million this weekend but will still have a ways to go if the studio wants to earn back its $44 million production budget.

Predicted to drop two places from last week to number nine this week is the third chapter of the extremely successful Pixar series, Toy Story 3. The film features the return of Woody, Buzz and all your favorite toys along with an all-star cast of voice actors, which include Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jodi Benson, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Kristen Schaal and Whoopi Goldberg. Last week the film dropped nearly 42.6% from the previous week and was seen on 661 less screens, earning about $2,434 on each of its 2,105 screens. The film earned an additional $5.1 million last weekend, which brought it's total gross to an amazing $389 million in seven weeks of release, which far surpasses it's purported production cost of $200 million. The film is predicted to earn an additional $3.1 million this weekend.

Finally, predicted to fall two places from last week to number ten is the family comedy Grown Ups about five childhood friends who reunite 30 years later for a vacation with their families staring the comedy "Dream Team" of Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider. Despite dropping 38.8% last week from the previous week and being shown in 590 less theaters, the film still managed to earn about $2,004 on each of it's 2,269 screens last week for an additional $4.5 million. That brings the films total to around $150.7 million in six weeks of release, earning back it's $80 million production cost. The film is predicted to earn an additional $2.2 million this weekend. Be sure to check out Box Office Beat Down this Sunday to see who is crowned the King of the box office this week and check back here next week for more box office predictions!

The Other Guys was released August 6th, 2010 and stars Derek Jeter, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Larnell Stovall, Jalil Jay Lynch, Roy T. Anderson, Andrew Secunda, Sara Chase. The film is directed by Adam McKay.

Inception was released July 16th, 2010 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan.