It was hardly a victory for quality entertainment at the US box office this weekend, because despite Sly and the rugged/haggard gang in The Expendables holding on at first place with $16.5 million, awful Twilight spoof Vampires Suck managed second place with $12.2 million.
Proving that American audiences really will turn out for any old clag, the latest from Date/Epic/Disaster Movie/Meet The Spartans’ Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer actually made more than some of their more recent work, which is a sure sign that A) they’ll keep getting to do what they do and B) Hell is ever closer to opening its gaping maw to swallow us whole. Oh, and Eat Pray Love took third place with $12 million.
Another of the week’s new releases, the Ice Cube-produced comedy Lottery Ticket, arrived in fourth place with $11.1 million, while The Other Guys made up the rest of the top five with $10.1 million.
The rest of the chart was loaded with new films, as Piranha 3D couldn’t quite ride that so-bad-it’s-great buzz to a big impact, arriving in sixth with $10 million. That still put ahead of the Nanny McPhee sequel (called, in the US Nanny McPhee Returns), which made $8.3 million. Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman didn’t prove to be a big rom com spark, opening The Switch to just $8.1 million in eighth place.
At ninth, Inception finally began to drop out of the charts, adding $7.6 million for a current $261.8 million US total and poor old Scott Pilgrim took another beating, dropping to 10th place with $5 million and a $20.7 million take so far.
To get the full chart rundown, head to Box Office Mojo.