Vote the Movies

1. "Dinner for Schmucks" ($8.4 million)
2. "Inception" ($8.2 million)
3. "Salt" ($5.9 million)
4. "Charlie St. Cloud" ($5.6 million)
5. "Despicable Me" ($4.7 million)

Pulling off inception is no easy task — just ask Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb, one of few extractors capable of planting ideas rather than simply taking them — so it comes as a bit of a surprise that "Inception" was just bested by a bunch of "Schmucks."

In its first day in theaters, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell's "Dinner for Schmucks" won the box office's coveted first place spot with an estimated $8.4 million Friday. A remake of the 1998 French film "Le Dîner de Cons," Jay Roach's "Schmucks" is well on track for a solid opening weekend. But "Inception" hasn't fallen out of competition, not by a long shot. Christopher Nolan's surreal caper thriller earned $8.2 million on Friday, allowing the reigning champion plenty of room to finish on top of the box office once again by the weekend's conclusion.

Newcomers "Charlie St. Cloud" and "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" debuted with less success than "Schmucks," landing in fourth place with $5.6 million and sixth place with $4.3 million respectively. With family audiences more likely to flock to theaters on Saturday and Sunday, "Cats & Dogs" could still get a boost into the top five by Sunday night.

The remainder of Friday's top five performers were Angelina Jolie's "Salt" with a $5.9 million third place finish and "Despicable Me" with a $4.7 million fifth place finish.

Tell us what you think of the box office results in the comments section and on Twitter!

Like the best war movies, "The Descent" writer/director Neil Marshall's "Centurion" focuses on a small, tight-knit group of soldiers. This particular movie looks far back in time, long before the age of gunpowder, a time when warriors needed to get up close and personal on the battlefield to kill one another. In 117 AD, a Roman legion is ordered to squash a rebellious force in northern Britain. But when a guerrilla ambush results in the capture of the Roman General Virilus (Dominic West), it is up to a small platoon led by Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) behind enemy lines to save him.

MTV News is pleased to bring you a collection of four exclusive images from the movie. Just click the one below to check out our full gallery. "Centurion" hits VOD, VUDU, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Marketplace, Amazon and theaters on August 27.

Ellen DeGeneres' announced departure from "American Idol" cued a few posts in Twitter-Wood today. Conan O'Brien has confidence in her, but for James Urbaniak it was just one more reminder that Steve Agee closed his personal account a few weeks ago.

The report is loaded with pictures today, too, as a couple of faces from "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" stopped by Pixar, Miranda Cosgrove showed how hard she's been studying for the SAT and Nick Frost just knows how to were a suit. Check out the retweet slideshow below along with a "Salt" reaction from Kevin Williamson.

I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is Twitter-Wood for July 30, 2010.

Twitter Pic of the Day:
@leeunkrich Hanging with Michael Cera and @edgarwright in Pixar's fabled Love Lounge. http://twitpic.com/29wr2b
-Lee Unkrich, Director ("Toy Story 3," "Finding Nemo")

@MirandaBuzz Studying in between scenes http://yfrog.com/n2swmj
-Miranda Cosgrove, Actress ("iCarly," "The School of Rock")

@feliciaday Watched Project Runway last night. Anyone have a friend on a reality series? Its weird to see, Sarah Trost was our Guild costume designer!
-Felicia Day, Actress ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Bring It on Again")

@nickjfrost http://yfrog.com/jk4hwfj Sinister yet dashing.
-Nick Frost, Actor ("Shaun of the Dead," "Pirate Radio")

@JamesUrbaniak .@steveagee would've had so much to say about Ellen DeGeneres.
-James Urbaniak, Actor ("The Venture Bros.," "Across the Universe")

@ConanOBrien Ellen has walked away from a television institution after one year, but I’m sure it’s the right decision. Now, back to my model rocketry.
-Conan O'Brien, Writer/Host ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien")

@kevwilliamson Saw Salt tonight. Lot of fun. Who knew a panty shield and spider venom could be so useful?
-Kevin Williamson, Writer/Producer ("Scream," "The Vampire Diaries")

Don’t forget to follow @MTVMoviesBlog on Twitter for all the latest updates and colorful commentary from the world of movies.

I tried to transcribe the below video, I really did. We're all about showing and telling here at MTV News. But the odd sort of rapport that exists between "Paul" stars Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio is best experienced live and in living color. Just know that in the below video, the following topics are discussed:

(1) Sex with E.T.'s mom
(2) The broad lexicon of Steven Spielberg's work, from "Close Encounters" and "Sugarland Express" to "Hook" and "The Terminal"
(3) Matt Damon and his super-hot granddaughter
(4) "The Color Purple"
(5) Kristen Wiig in a red dress being incinerated

Sold yet? Just hit play.

There are still a bunch of great movies coming this year, but all the way up at the top of my list is "Tron Legacy." Disney's December release is still a long away off, but the original film remains a sci-fi classic and the sequel looks to ramp things up considerably if the trailers are any indication.

The latest trailer is highlighted by a helmet-off reveal of Jeff Bridges as Clu 2.0, wearing the same face that he did when "Tron" was released 18 years ago thanks to the magic of digital technology. Speaking to Bridges at San Diego Comic-Con last week, MTV's Josh Horowitz asked what it was like to revive this past version of himself for the coming sequel.

"It was very exciting to be a part of that," he said. "That was one of the reasons that got me involved in 'Tron' in the first place, to be a part of that cutting-edge technology. This one takes it to the Nth degree, really."

As ahead of its time as "Tron" was, "Legacy" is nonetheless multiple evolutions ahead in terms of the technology it employs. Bridges' younger first isn't quite a perfect reproduction, but it's so close that it's possible to simply step across the uncanny valley.

"Playing the young [version of myself], we did a lot of work in a space called The Volume where you record your motion capture work," Bridges explained. "That was a completely unique experience for me, I had never done that. It's great to be able to play a character in a story any age you want now. I could play my character when he's four years old now; that's a great thing to be able to do."

He was almost "Spider-Man," but now he's stuck in "Detention." Cook will also produce, with "Torque" helmer Joseph Kahn directing. Kahn is perhaps better known for his music video work, having directed both Britney Spears' "Toxic" and Eminem's "Without Me." Variety reports that he also wrote the script, with Mark Palermo.

The story follows a group of teens who are in their last year of high school. As they struggle to get through the final days of class, exams, book reports and papers, they must also contend with "a slasher-movie killer who has seemingly come to life." There are no details for Cook's character -- perhaps the killer? -- but Hutcherson will presumably play one of the luckless teens. Since he's starring, he'll probably end up luckier than the rest of them though.

On the heels of this morning's ghostface killer reveal, we have some words from the cast of "Scream 4." First up is Rory Culkin, who MTV reporter Jocelyn Vena spoke to on the red carpet at the Wednesday premiere of "Twelve" in New York City. He was predictably mum on any real details.

"We're still shooting it. Not really allowed to talk about it," he said. C'mon Rory... how about just a little bit of news? "I signed a contract, seriously. I can't say anything and I'd hate to get sued. Sooo... I better keep quiet on this!" Culkin did admit that he dressed up as the "Scream" killer one year for Halloween when he was still in elementary school.

A subtle nod to the fact that he's the killer this time, perhaps?! Jocelyn asked. No dice. "Am I the killer this time around? ... I am under contract."

Culkin was willing to talk about the experience of hanging with the stars of the original trilogy. "They've been friendly. We've been hanging out and they would tell stories from the sets of the originals, things like that," he said. "[Series star Neve Campbell] is an awesome chick. We've just been hanging out... off set."

The pause before "off set" is interesting. I've had a theory for a long time now that the original stars of the "Scream" trilogy appearing in the fourth movie are going to be killed off early on, a la Drew Barrymore in the original "Scream." If they're not all seeing each other on set... maybe they don't have many (or any?) scenes together...? All speculation here, just something to think about.

"Scream 4" star Nico Tortorella co-stars with Culkin in "Twelve" and he was also on the red carpet Wednesday night. He was a little more forthcoming with his answers, but still no reveals. "My [character's] name is Trevor, and Emma and I have a love interest throughout the whole movie, and I can't really give you too much more," he said.

Torterella also admitted what a joy it is to hang with the stars of the original. "Yeah, Courteney [Cox's] there, Neve's there, David [Arquette's] there. You know, it's really like walking into a family, and they're just all accepting us with mad open arms," he explained. "They're all incredible people. It's been quite the trip. I had never seen the originals until after I auditioned for the first time. ... After watching them all, yeah, ['Scream 4' is] one of its own."

The first proper look we've gotten at David Fincher's "The Social Network" came a few weeks ago and it was great. Set to a chilling cover of Radiohead's '90s hit "Creep," people saw it and were finally able to nod their heads, saying "Yup, it's a Fincher movie."

Now there's a new promo floating around online. A minute-long collection of clips set to Kanye West's new single, "Power." The last trailer showed more and better highlighted the arc of the story, whereas this is mostly a collection of clips. It all plays great against the Kanye track though; if you liked the last trailer, you'll want to check this one out too, after the jump.

"Dinner for Schmucks" is out today, bringing home Steve Carell's third movie of the year, after "Date Night" and "Despicable Me." A few weeks ago, Carell sat down -- and I use the term loosely -- with MTV's Josh Horowitz for an informal chat. A very informal chat. Remember Josh's encounter with John C. Reilly back in June? This is more awkward, more disturbing. Hit play and prepare to be horrified.