The Expendables, Eat Pray Love | featured news

It's a sink or swim moment for the filmmakers behind the sequel to "Piranha 3D." Combining a silly, self-aware sensibility with over-the-top gore, the original comedic horror film starring the likes of Richard Dreyfuss, Christopher Lloyd and Elizabeth Shue as townsfolk fighting off prehistoric flesh-eating fish became a just-add-water cult hit when it was released two summers ago opposite more mature fare such as "The Expendables" and "Eat Pray Love."

Maybe movie stars aren't so expendable. At a time when pricey talent is thought to yield diminishing returns for film studios, Lionsgate's star-studded "The Expendables" easily topped the weekend boxoffice with an estimated $35 million in domestic coin. The testosterone-spiked actioner outpaced an impressive $23.7 million bow by Sony's female-targeted Julia Roberts starrer "Eat Pray Love" in second place, while Universal's geek-seeking "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" debuted with a dismal $10.5 million in fifth place.

1) The Expendables (Lionsgate) NEW [3,270 Theaters]
Friday $13M, Estimated Weekend $33.7M

2) Eat Pray Love (Sony) NEW [3,082 Theaters]
Friday $9.8m, Estimated Weekend $28.3M

3) The Other Guys (Sony) Week 2 [3,651 Theaters]
Friday $5.5M (-58%), Estimated Weekend $17M

This week at the movies, we've got elite mercenaries (The Expendables, starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham), a journey of self-discovery (Eat, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem), and a geek-turned-hero (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead). What do the critics have to say? Sly Stallone directs and stars in The Expendables, and he's got a veritable army of your favorite action stars along for the ride, including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, and Terry Crews.