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It was a close race when the weekend began. Dinner for Schmucks was actually ahead of Inception on Friday. However, a major boost in numbers on Saturday helped the Christopher Nolan film make it three weekends in a row on top of the box office.

With yet another decent drop from the previous weekend, Inception is now nearing $200 million in domestic sales, and it is very close to overtaking Batman Begins as the 2nd biggest grossing film under Nolan’s belt. As far as worldwide receipts go, it is nearing the $400-million mark. All in all, a very successful endeavor for Nolan, Warner Brothers, and everyone involved.

The new films released this weekend don’t seem to be on the same pathway to success, though, with Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Pride coming up the shortest in regards to expected gross. The subgenre of the talking animal film may have met its end, as 2010 hasn’t been exactly kind to it. With the trailer for Yogi Bear causing audible groans around the country, the demise might not be soon enough, either.

Charlie St. Cloud did about as expected given the odd time of year it was getting its release. Zac Efron may be big enough to vehicle his own films, but releases in July may not be the best idea for those films just yet, especially if they don’t have any other sort of branding with them.

Steve Carell and Paul Rudd pushed Dinner for Schmucks‘s opening weekend about as far as they could, and, though it wasn’t enough to take over Inception‘s #1 spot, it had a respectable opening. $69 million is a bit much for a budget when you look at the film, though, and the film will surely struggle to get its money back in domestic box office.

It should be noted there was only just over $300,000 separating Eclipse and Ramona and Beezus, and the two could swap places when Monday’s actuals hit. Regardless where either of the two end up, it seems evident that without a re-release, the Twilight Saga still won’t have a film break $300 million, an odd notion when you consider how fervent the fandom is surrounding it.

Here is how the weekend box office shaped up:

1. Inception – $27.5m (-35.6%) $193.3 total
2. Dinner for Schmucks – $23.3m NEW
3. Salt – $19.2m (-46.5%) $80.8m total
4. Despicable Me – $15.5m (-34.4%) $190.3m total
5. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Pride – $12.5m NEW
6. Charlie St. Cloud – $12.1m NEW
7. Toy Story 3 – $5m (-43.5%) $389.6m total
8. Grown Ups – $4.5m (-39.4%) $150.7m total
9. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – $4.3m (-55.2%) $51.8m total
10. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – $3.9m (-44.8%) $288.2m total

This weekend’s $127.8 million for the top 10 marks a 15.1% drop from last weekend’s $150.4 million, the third weekend in a row we’ve seen a drop from the previous weekend. This was, however, a 16.6% increase over the same weekend last year. At that time, Funny People fizzled and neither Aliens in the Attic nor The Collector were able to back it up in any capacity.

Next weekend’s offerings don’t seem to forecast any major increase in overall numbers, either, with The Other Guys and Step Up 3-D being the only wide releases. With Farrell and Wahlberg both being leading men in their own rights, The Other Guys should be able to be the film that knocks Inception off its podium, but how much of an impact it is going to make remains to be seen. We’ll be back on Thursday to run down how we see the weekend turning out.

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