It’s no real surprise that “Inception” topped the box-office this weekend; there was nothing else opening against it, and the combination of Leonardo DiCaprio and “From the Director of ‘The Dark Knight'” was enough to pull in $60.4 million. It’s DiCaprio’s biggest opening to date, apparently, though of course it’s a mere fraction of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s take on “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”.
Not that Nolan worries about this stuff, mind you. I really believe that; on “The Dark Knight” junket, when idiot journalists were asking him whether Heath Ledger’s death might cause audiences to reject the film, he said he was happy with the movie he’d made, and the question of ticket sales had been out of his hands from the day he started developing the script. So he’s cool either way — though I’m sure Warner’s relieved that “Inception” didn’t turn out to be the spectacular bomb that some writers were … predicting? Hoping for?
Whatever the motivation, it wasn’t the case. $60.4 million is pretty decent, and in any case Nolan had already secured his future by announcing his plans to make another Batman movie. So everybody wins, except for those who didn’t like “Inception”. But there’s no helping those people, really.
Am I one of the few people who would have responded better if the studio had bragged, “From the director of Memento and The Prestige”? I understand the financial reasons behind their choice, but I loved the other two movies and from what I’ve heard about Inception (and since I intend to see it later this week I’ve tried not to hear too much), they are much more similar than Nolan’s Batman outings.
And…good luck with the dog. I have a soft spot for strays. Both the cats I’ve been owned by as an adult have been strays. I hope you either find the owners or consider keeping him. He looks sweet (for a dog).
You’re right; “Inception” is much more of a piece with “Memento” and “The Prestige” than the Batmsn movies. On the other hand, Warner wants to make its money back …
… and yeah, we’re not sure what’s happening with the dog yet, but between us and our neighbors, there’s no way he’s getting surrendered to a shelter. Hopefully, his people will find him — he’s just too well cared for to have been a stray for long — but if they don’t, I have a feeling he’s sticking around somehow.
“BatMSN”? Microsoft has really taken product placement too far this time! 🙂
Stupid netbook keyboard. Though now that I think about it, you may be on to something …