14 DAY TRIAL // Angelina Jolie’s first film since giving birth to twins, the action spy flick “Salt,” had a very strong opening at the US box office, with early estimates saying on Saturday that it might actually bring down the much-mediated “Inception.” Numbers cited by the Box Office Mojo show that “Salt” fell short by a few millions of achieving that, and that “Inception” remains the king of the box office, having already made over $140 million in the US alone.
Last weekend, “Inception” had the biggest opening of the summer for an original film (meaning not a sequel and not a reboot), with over $60 million in ticket sales. Though there was little indication that it may lose its appeal for audiences in its second week, because of the hype around “Salt” and the positive reviews it got ahead of release, it was believed it stood great chances of becoming number one – but it wasn’t to be.
“Inception” made another $43.5 million, totaling $143.7 million in two weeks. “Salt” opened with $36.5 million, which is impressive for a debut, but clearly not enough to take down the film critics describe as the best of the summer, if not even year. “Despicable Me” made $24.1 million in its third week of release, while “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” grossed $9.7 million and “Toy Story 3” another $9 million, bringing its total gross for six weeks to $379.5 million.
“Ramona and Beezus,” another newcomer, opened to just $8 million. The rest of the positions in the US box office over the weekend were occupied as follows: “Grown Ups” ($7.6 million), “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” ($7.6 million), “The Last Airbender” ($4.2 million) and “Predators” ($2.9 million). Though it failed to reach the top position, “Salt” was clearly a winner with the female fans, as Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, told the media a few hours ago, as cited by Us Magazine.
“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,” the aforementioned publication writes.
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