By Brendan Swift
Toy Story 3 has become Walt Disney Studios' all-time highest grossing film at the Australian box office.
The animated film grossed another $1.33 million in its fifth week at the box office to reach $38.87 million, surpassing Disney's previous highest grossing film: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Meanwhile, Chris Nolan's pyschological dream-thriller Inception opened in first place, grossing $7.43 million across 413 screens. Its screen average was the highest of all films over the weekend at $17,986.
The film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, has also performed impressively in other territories, taking an impressive $US143.66 million since opening in the US on July 25.
However, Phillip Noyce's thriller Salt also posted a strong US opening weekend.
The Angelina Jolie action caper – the Australian director's first feature film since Catch a Fire in 2006 – took $US36.5 million across 3612 screens to rank second in the US. The film opens in Australia on August 19.
Meanwhile, among Australian films at the local box office, The Waiting City posted a 27 per cent fall in its second week. It grossed $99,818 across 25 screens (screen average $3993). The Joel Edgerton-Radha Mitchell drama has now grossed just over $355,000 in total.
Crime movie Animal Kingdom grossed another $114,444 across 77 screens (screen average $1486). It has now taken almost $4.5 million in total.
Australian Films at the Box Office 2010
| Film | Budget | Distributor | Opening w/e | Box Office |
| Bran Nue Dae | $6.5m | Roadshow | $1,612,102 | $7,565,476 |
| The Kings of Mykonos | $6m est. | Paramount/Transmission | $1,828,902 | $4,894,250 |
| Animal Kingdom | $5m est. | Madman | $604,139 | $4,499,686 |
| Beneath Hill 60 | $9.5m | Paramount/Transmission | $548,694 | $3,194,417 |
| Daybreakers | $20m est. | Hoyts | $1,064,244 | $2,448,050 |
| I Love You Too | $6m | Roadshow | $113,483 | $2,359,478 |
| Bright Star | $16.7m est. | Roadshow/Hopscotch | – | $2,157,601 |
| The Waiting City | $2m est. | Hopscotch | $136,892 | $355,283 |
| Accidents Happen | $6.5m est. | Hopscotch | $39,721 | $156,350 |
| Love, Lust & Lies | – | Beyond Entertainment | $20,674 | $134,949 |
| Lou | – | Kojo Pictures | $27,371 | $58,920 |
| Girl Clock! | $1m | Self-distributed | $8,857 | $43,434 |
| Separation City | $4.8m | Hoyts | $15,278 | $32,159 |
| Triangle | $8m est. | Icon | $6,081 | $11,282 |
| Going Vertical | – | The Pack/Blue Sea Films | $3,879 | $9,699 |
| Savages Crossing | $3.5m | MediaKin/GAP | $4,432 | $8,651 |
| Playing For Charlie | – | The Pack | $2,665 | $5,867 |
| The Horseman | – | Umbrella Entertainment | $2,270 | $2,895 |
Source: MPDAA, INSIDEFILM. Separation City is a NZ film. Bright Star released Dec 26, 2009; tally does not include 2009 box office.