Wiki News/BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS: iCarly: The Movie dates Inception

PREDICTED WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

As predicted, director Christopher Nolan's Inception defeated Angelina Jolie's Salt last weekend to take the number one spot at the box office for a second week in a row. But will the buzz-worthy movie, which is already earning Oscar consideration, be able to defend its position against the new Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks or the family film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore?

The answer seems to be ... yes! If early predictions are correct, iCarly: The Movie, a movie based on the TV show with the same title on Nickelodeon, will be the number one film this week. It will be taken at least in the $50 million range to become a huge hit for a G rated live-action movie.

Inception, the long awaited sci-fi action thriller from director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) will be the number one film again this weekend for the third week in a row. 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 was seen on 3,792 screens and despite dropping 32.0% from its debut still managed to earn roughly $11,267 on each for a weekend total of $42.7 million, bringing its total gross in just two weeks up to $142 million. The film is predicted to earn an additional $31.2 million this weekend, surpassing its $160 million purported budget costs.

Predicted to debut at number two this week is the workplace comedy Dinner for Schmucks starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Ron Livingston, Jemaine Clement, Bruce Greenwood and Zach Galifianakis. The film is predicted to earn around $25.8 million this weekend. Currently the film has an average rating of a 3.4 on our site. Out of the ten people who have rated the film four 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. "Paul Rudd is excellent as the straight man who finds out that maybe he's the biggest schmuck at the dinner. Steve Carell can elicit plenty of laughs, sometimes by his clever improvisations where he shows himself to be more of a noodge than a schmuck, and when the movie works, it goes over like a more than decent screwball comedy."

Predicted to debut at number three this week 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 is predicted to earn around $21.3 million this weekend. Currently the film has an average rating of a 2.5 on our site. Out of the seven people who have rated the film only two have given it five stars while the trailer for the film has had over 3,000 views. Here is what one of our readers had to say about the new film. "WTF, they made a sequel? Boy Chris O'Donnell's movie career is in the toilet. I didn't even know he was still making movies. When was the last time he was in a good movie, I can't remember?" Finally, another reader had this to say about it, "Well this movie proves that there is a God.... and he hates us!"

Predicted to drop two places to number four this week from its debut 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). Last week the film was seen on 3,612 screens, earning $9,970 on each for an opening weekend total of $36.0 million, which is still a far cry from earning back its $110 million production costs. The movie is predicted to earn an additional $19.9 million this weekend.

Predicted to round off the top five this week but fall two places back from last week 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. Despite dropping 27.8% last week the film was shown in an additional 99 theaters, earning $6,580 on each of its 3,600 screens for a weekend total of $23.6 million. As of last week the film had earned over $161 million in just three weeks of release, surpassing its $69 million production costs. The film is predicted to earn an additional $15.5 million this weekend.

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

Predicted to debut at number six this week is the new brotherhood/afterlife film Charlie St. Cloud starring teen-sensation Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta, Donal Logue and Charlie Tahan. The film is predicted to earn around $14.7 million this weekend. Currently the film has an average rating of a 3.3 on our site. Out of the six people who have rated the film only two have given it five stars while the trailer for the film has had over 7,000 views. Here is what one of our readers had to say about the new film. "Why would anyone want to go to such a formulaic project? Two words: Zac Efron. The audience for this is the teen and tween girl demographic, a PG-13 job with only one or two mildly vulgar words and a sex scene as discreet as you'd find in a '1950s movie."

Predicted to fall two places back from last week to number seven and out of the top five for the first time since it entered the charts over six weeks ago 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 25.7% from the previous week and was seen on 411 less screens, earning about $3,224 on each of its 2,766 screens. The film earned an additional $8.9 million last weekend, which brought it's total gross to an amazing $379 million in six weeks of release, which far surpasses it's purported production cost of $200 million. The film is predicted to earn an additional $6.4 million this weekend.

Predicted to drop four places from last week to number eight is Walt Disney Pictures' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, from super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The film is an updated version of the famous Mickey Mouse segment from the classic Disney animated film, Fantasia, and stars Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, How To Train Your Dragon), Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories), Toby Kebbell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) and Monica Bellucci (Shoot 'Em Up). Last week the film dropped nearly 45.2% from its debut the week before but still earned about $2,754 on each of its 3,504 screens. The film earned an additional $9.6 million last weekend, which brought it's total gross to an around $42.6 million in two weeks of release, which is still nowhere near enough to earn back its supposed $150 million budget costs. The film is predicted to earn an additional $5.4 million this weekend.

Predicted to fall two places this week to number nine 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 25.0% last week from the previous week and being shown in 215 less theaters, the film still managed to earn about $2,598 on each of it's 2,859 screens last week for an additional $7.4 million. That brings the films total to around $142.2 million in five weeks of release, earning back it's $80 million production cost. The film is predicted to earn an additional $4.1 million this weekend.

Finally, falling four places from its debut on the charts last week is the film Ramona and Beezus, which is based on the popular series of children's novels by Beverly Cleary. The film stars Selena Gomez, Joey King, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Duhamel. Last week the film was seen on 2,719 screens, earning $2,873 on each for an opening weekend total of $7.8 million, which is not bad considering that it only cost about $15 million to make. The movie is predicted to earn an additional $3.9 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!

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.

Dinner for Schmucks was released July 30th, 2010 and stars Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Lucy Punch, Bruce Greenwood, David Walliams. The film is directed by Jay Roach.