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But sometimes the numbers are misleading. Take last weekend, when "Glee" opened in 11th place, grossing just under $6 million. It would be easy to declare the movie a failure -- except the rankings don’t take into account the movie’s tiny $9.5 million budget, and (for example) the popularity its DVD version and soundtrack could potentially have in years to come.

No pundit has more control over the analysis than Paul Dergarabedian, the resident expert at Hollywood.com, who often parses box office figures for the Associated Press and the New York Times.

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According to Box Office Mojo, both films collected an estimated $36.2 million at the box office this weekend -- quite a surprise, given the tenor of "The Smurfs'" less-than-encouraging early reviews. (Unlike "Cowboys and Aliens," "The Smurfs" was available in 3D, so some tickets were slightly more expensive.)

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Stallone and his pumped-up pals lifted Lionsgate's 1980s-style action romp "The Expendables" to a No. 1 debut with $35 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

While the macho "Expendables" lured male audiences, Julia Roberts delivered a crowd-pleaser for women with Sony's "Eat Pray Love," which opened at No. 2 with $23.7 million.

The previous weekend's top movie, Sony's cop comedy "The Other Guys," slipped to third place with $18 million, raising its 10-day total to $70.5 million. The Warner Bros. blockbuster "Inception" was fourth with $11.4 million, lifting its total to $248.6 million.

Opening in fifth place with $10.5 million was Universal's graphic-novel adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," starring Michael Cera as a slacker caught up in duels to the death with his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends.

"The Expendables" continued a box-office uptick for Stallone, who has had a career resurgence in recent years revisiting his past with fresh sequels to his "Rocky" and "Rambo" franchises.

The movie features such action stars as Jet Li and Jason Statham -- along with cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- in a tale of mercenaries aiming to overthrow a dictator.

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The buddy-cop parody starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg made $35.6 million in its opening weekend, according to Sunday estimates from Sony Pictures.

It's the second-highest debut for a film in which Ferrell has starred, and yet another strong showing for the movies he's made with his frequent collaborator, writer-director Adam McKay. Their biggest opening was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which debuted at No. 1 with $47 million in August 2006. "Step Brothers" made $30.9 million and came in second place when it opened in July 2008. And their first film together, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," opened in second place in July 2004 with $28.4 million.

"Inception," which had been the top film in the country the past three weeks, fell to No. 2 with $18.6 million. Christopher Nolan's mind-bending dream thriller from Warner Bros. has now made $227.7 million since its debut July 16.

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The mind-bending Warner Bros. thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio remained the No. 1 movie for the third-straight weekend with $27.5 million, bringing its total to $193.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Inception" edged out the weekend's new releases: "Dinner for Schmucks," "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" and "Charlie St. Cloud."

"'Inception' has seeped into the cultural zeitgeist," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's something that everyone is talking about right now. When a movie is able to do that and something just clicks, it becomes a national -- even an international -- discussion, and it's seemingly impervious to any of the newcomers."

"Dinner for Schmucks," the Paramount comedy starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, followed closely behind "Inception" with $23.3 million, while the Warner Bros. 3-D sequel "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" fetched $12.5 million in the No. 5 spot. "Charlie St. Cloud," the Universal Pictures drama starring Zac Efron, debuted at No. 6 with $12.1 million.

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The Warner Bros. action tale about a team that sneaks into people's dreams is DiCaprio's biggest opening weekend, topping his previous best of $41.1 million for last winter's "Shutter Island."

"Inception" falls far short of director Christopher Nolan's best, though. Nolan is the man who directed the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which opened over the same weekend two years ago with a record $158.4 million.

Warner Bros. has carved out a niche with this particular mid-July weekend. The studio followed "The Dark Knight" with a $77.8 million opening for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" over the same weekend last year.

"We like this spot. Not to sound superstitious, but stay away from this weekend. I own it," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

The final "Harry Potter" movie debuts on the same weekend next summer. Warner plans to open Nolan's third "Batman" movie over that weekend two years from now, though Fellman said the studio could move it to an earlier date that summer.

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"Iron Man 2," the sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. as Marvel's gadget-happy billionaire superhero, earned $133.6 million domestically on its opening weekend, according to distributor Paramount Pictures' estimates Sunday. The opening rocketed past the original $98.6 million debut in 2008 and landed the record as the fifth-biggest opening weekend.

"We're thrilled with the combination of the way it's playing across the board," said Don Harris, Paramount's vice president of distribution. "It's playing as a fanboy movie, but it's also playing as family movie, too. I even know a bunch of people who are planning to take their mothers to see 'Iron Man 2' on Mother's Day, which really made me chuckle."

"Iron Man 2" has taken in $194 million overseas since it debuted in many international markets last week, bringing its worldwide total to over $327 million. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts. The biggest opening came from China with $7.3 million.

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A remake of the slasher flick "A Nightmare on Elm Street" led the weekend with a $32.2 million debut. The movie features Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger, a psycho killer who stalks and slays victims in their dreams.

Fright films typically drop steeply in their second weekends, since hardcore horror fans rush out to see them in the first few days. But the remake already is headed toward a solid profit after an opening weekend that roughly matched its modest production budget of just over $30 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, Brendan Fraser's family comedy "Furry Vengeance," bombed with just $6.5 million.

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Another picture of mine opened at Radio City Music Hall. It opened quietly with no great beating of drums of baiting of breath ... so quietly did the picture open, it failed to merit the usual second-week holdover at the Music Hall: a black mark against future business ... The critics, too, were caught with their adjectives down. The Nation pontificated, "entertaining, but to claim any significance for the picture would of course be a mistake."

The writer is Frank Capra, three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker and truly the first "star" director -- his name above the title guaranteed box office business. The movie he's talking about is "It Happened One Night," starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Pray continue, Frank.

Then it happened. Happened all over the country -- not in one night, but within a month. People found the film ... funnier, much funnier than the usual. But, biggest surprise of all, they could remember in detail a good deal of what went on in the film and found that everybody else did and that it was great fun talking about this and that scene ... theaters sold out for weeks and weeks. Critics went back for a second look.

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The DreamWorks Animation adventure took in $15 million to reclaim the No. 1 spot in its fifth weekend of release. "How to Train Your Dragon" opened in first place in late March, then dropped back into the pack. But it has held up strongly and climbed to the top again amid a flurry of so-so new releases.

The tale of a Viking youth and his pet dragon raised its total to $178 million and is on its way to becoming a $200 million hit.

Premiering weakly at No. 2 with $12.3 million was Jennifer Lopez's romantic comedy "The Back-up Plan," released by CBS Films. Another comedy, Steve Carell and Tina Fey's "Date Night" from 20th Century Fox, held up well to finish at No. 3 with $10.6 million, raising its total to $63.5 million.

Among the weekend's other newcomers, the Warner Bros. action flick "The Losers" flopped at No. 4 with $9.6 million. Disney's nature film "Oceans" had a solid opening for a documentary, coming in at No. 8 with $6 million.

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Distributor Paramount reported Sunday that DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" took in $20 million, while "Kick-Ass" distributor Lionsgate reported its movie debuting at $19.75 million.

With just $250,000 separating them, either movie could end up at No. 1 when studios release final weekend numbers Monday.

The previous weekend, 20th Century Fox's comedy "Date Night" led the Warner Bros. action tale "Clash of the Titans" by about the same amount based on Sunday estimates. But "Clash of the Titans" came out on top by $1.4 million when final numbers were reported Monday, with "Date Night" pulling in nearly $2 million less than 20th Century Fox had estimated a day earlier.

"I've never seen two weeks in a row like this where the top movies could easily flip-flop," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Weekend projections include fairly hard figures for Friday and Saturday, but studios have to estimate how much a movie will take in on Sunday. Final figures Monday can rise or fall once precise revenues for Sunday are calculated.

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No. 1 bragging rights for the weekend were too close to call Sunday, with 20th Century Fox estimating a $27.1 million debut for Carell and Fey's comedy "Date Night" and Warner Bros. reporting the action tale "Clash of the Titans" at $26.9 million.

Rankings will be sorted out Monday when studios release final numbers, which can vary by $1 million or more for some films compared with Sunday estimates.

Warner executives said they tracked "Clash of the Titans" as No. 1 for a second straight weekend, with "Date Night" trailing by about $1 million.

"I'm not complaining about it," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner. "They're certainly entitled to their own projection, and we'll see. Maybe they're right and we're wrong. Monday will tell."

Photo finishes are rare for the No. 1 spot at the box office, where one movie usually is the clear winner.

Weekend projections include fairly hard figures for Friday and Saturday but estimates for how much a movie will take in on Sunday. Studios base those estimates on such factors as how similar movies performed in past weekends.

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The ancient Greek action remake "Clash of the Titans" debuted at No. 1 with $61.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Adding Thursday night preview screenings, the movie totaled $64.1 million.

Released by Warner Bros., "Clash of the Titans" features "Avatar" star Sam Worthington as demigod hero Perseus and Liam Neeson as his dad, Zeus, king of the Olympian deities.

Opening at No. 2 with $30.2 million was Lionsgate's sequel "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?", reuniting filmmaker Perry with Janet Jackson and other co-stars for another comic drama about eight friends and their relationships.

The previous weekend's top movie, DreamWorks Animation's Viking adventure "How to Train Your Dragon," ran a close third with $29.2 million, raising its 10-day total to $92.3 million.

Miley Cyrus' teen drama "The Last Song" premiered at No. 4 with $16.2 million. The Disney release raised its total to $25.6 million since opening Wednesday. Written by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks specifically for the "Hannah Montana" star, the movie casts Cyrus as a sullen teen spending the summer with her estranged father.

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Distributed by Paramount, the DreamWorks Animation adventure came in well behind the studio's last cartoon comedy, "Monsters vs. Aliens," which opened with $59.3 million over the same weekend last year.

With strong reviews and enthusiastic responses from viewers in exit polls, DreamWorks expects "How to Train Your Dragon" to have more staying power than "Monsters vs. Aliens" in subsequent weekends, though.

"People just love the film, so we're really anticipating we'll benefit from strong word of mouth going forward," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks.

"How to Train Your Dragon," featuring the voices of Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera in the tale of a Viking youth who tames a fire-breathing reptile, did outperform some other recent animated movies, among them "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which opened with $30.3 million last September.

Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," which had been No. 1 the previous three weekends, slipped to second place with $17.3 million. It raised its domestic total to $293.1 million and its worldwide haul to $656 million.

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Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" took in $34.5 million to remain the No. 1 movie for a third-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney release raised its domestic haul to $265.8 million and its worldwide total to $565.8 million after just three weekends in theaters, a huge result for a film playing in the typically slow month of March.

"You rarely see this kind of domination by one movie at this time of year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Normally at this time of year, films don't make this kind of money, and they don't hold in this long."

"Alice in Wonderland" easily beat a rush of new movies led by 20th Century Fox's family film "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," which opened at No. 2 with $21.8 million. The movie is adapted from Jeff Kinney's cartoon novel about a sixth grader maneuvering through the intricate social structure at his middle school, which includes its own "cooties" game known as the "cheese touch."

"I think cheese touch equals magic touch at the box office," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution at 20th Century Fox.

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Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" easily remained the No. 1 weekend draw with $62 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year.

In its second weekend in theaters, "Alice in Wonderland" pulled ahead of the $206.5 million domestic haul of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to become the top-grossing of Depp and Burton's seven films together, which include "Edward Scissorhands," "Sweeney Todd" and "Corpse Bride."

"I believe it's literally the magical, if you would, pairing of Tim and Johnny," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "When you take those two, they always seem to make something really out of the ordinary."

"Alice in Wonderland" added $76 million overseas to bring its international total to $221 million and its worldwide gross to $430 million.

A rush of new movies had so-so openings, led by Matt Damon's Iraq War thriller "Green Zone," which debuted at No. 2 with $14.5 million domestically. Released by Universal, "Green Zone" stars Damon as the leader of a U.S. Army team who stumbles onto a conspiracy over the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

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Despite the mixed reviews and word of mouth, the Scorsese thriller is still the only real event movie out there for people who don't need a return trip to Pandora. While I didn't care for "Shutter Island" one bit, I am heartened that a moody, complicated, two-hour-plus, non-sequel, R-rated thriller from Martin Scorsese is a genuine smash hit. In this day and age, it's always refreshing to see an adult-driven genre picture to reach heights only usually accorded to franchises and animated films. The picture is Scorsese's fifth-biggest domestic grosser, and will reach no. 3 on that list by next weekend. Whether or not it can surpass the $132 million earned by "The Departed" is an open question, but it won't have any demo competition until "The Green Zone." That Bourne-goes-to-Baghdad thriller opens March 12. (I have no idea if that's an accurate summary, by the way, but it's sure how the Paul Greengrass/Matt Damon film is being sold by Universal).

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