Christopher Nolan is having a fantastic Saturday. Jerry Bruckheimer is not. For the Dark Knight director scored over $21 million on Friday for his original, mind-bending film Inception. (That includes the $3 million brought in from the opening midnight shows.) The Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer, from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, could now earn $60 million for its three-day opening frame. That’s quite a contrast to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Disney’s failed attempt to recreate the magic of The National Treasure franchise. The film from Treasure producer Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and star Nicolas Cage grossed an estimated $5 million on Friday for a weekend take that may just hit $15 million. The film opened on Wednesday but even those two days of grosses won’t help the film get much past $20 million for the five-day period.
Third place is likely to be held by Despicable Me, Universal Pictures’ animated hit that earned another $10 million on Friday for a weekend that could translate to $30 million and over $118 million for the ten-day old film. Spot four and five are likely to be held by strong-performing holdovers Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Toy Story 3. The two films grossed $4.5 and $3.5 on Friday, respectively. Eclipse’s cume by the end of the weekend should stand at near $265 million while Toy Story 3′s numbers will have topped $360 million by tomorrow. Come back tomorrow for a full report.