Box Office: 'The Other Guys' wins with $35M

Will Ferrell is the king of the North American box office again. His new comedy "The Other Guys" easily defeated its competition this weekend with a strong $35.6 million in estimated ticket sales.

The Adam McKay-directed funny flick, which also stars Mark Wahlberg and follows two loser cops taking on a big case to prove themselves, scored a solid average of $9,751 per theater at 3,651 locations.

Christopher Nolan's "Inception" ended up beating "Step Up 3D." The sci-fi thriller with Leonardo DiCaprio took the No. 2 spot with another $18.6 million for a superb total gross of $227.7 million.

Jon Chu's "Step Up 3D," the third film in the rather popular series, debuted in third place with $15.5 million, which is not bad for a flick opening at 2,435 locations. It scored an average of $6,366 per theater.

Meanwhile, "Salt" dropped to No. 4 with a weekend gross of $11.1 million and a cume of $91.9 million. Following in fifth place with $10.5 million was "Dinner for Schmucks," which reached a total of $46.7 million.

At No. 6, "Despicable Me" bagged $9.4 million, bringing its total haul to $209.4 million. "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" picked up $6.9 million for a total gross of $26.4 million.

"Charlie St. Cloud" with Zac Efron slipped to No. 8 this weekend with $4.7 million in ticket sales ($23.5 million total), while "Toy Story 3" generated $3 million for a cume of $396.3 million at No. 9.

Rounding out the top 10 was "The Kids Are Alright," which earned $2.6 million for a cumulative gross of $14 million. Next week's releases include "Eat Pray Love," "The Expendables" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)