Friday Box Office – DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS Number One with $8.4 Million; INCEPTION Second, CHARLIE St. CLOUD Fourth, Cats & Dogs 2 Can’t Compete

Even with so-so reviews, a screen count deficit and TV spots that were kind of bizarre, the PG-13 comedy Dinner for Schmucks managed a first place finish on Friday – barely. Jay Roach’s comedy made an estimated $8.4 million from 2,911 locations; just slightly ahead of Inception. With another remarkable hold after 15 days, Inception is now poised for a third weekend at number one – unless Schmucks can convince the weekend crowd that it’s actually a sequel to Date Night. Universal’s Charlie St. Cloud placed fourth with $5.6 million from 2,720 venues. Finally, though Warner Brothers was clearly hoping for a G-Force-sized success with their sequel to 2001’s mid-level hit Cats & Dogs, the family film could not even break the top five on Friday. Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore placed sixth with an estimated $4.2 million. And that was with a big screen count advantage and a 3D price premium at many of the film’s 3,705 locations. So the appeal of the talking, 3D animal has its limits after all! We’ll have full details tomorrow.