After a film like “Inception” comes out, you know you can expect a letdown weekend at the box office. Even if Angelina Jolie were doing full-front for “Salt,” it still wouldn’t make headlines this weekend. (Mainly because it would be R-rated and limit the audience, but still …)

Much like “Avatar” last year, this is the film everyone’s being told to see by their friends. Now unlike “Avatar” I don’t expect numbers to actually go up for “Inception” (it’s not the holiday season), but it could see a very minimal drop as people go back to theaters to look for clues to interpret the film’s ending or new people come in to see what all the fuss is about.

So read my preview for this weekend, but the buzz is still about “Inception.”

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Now Playing

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Salt

Directed by Philip Noyce
Written by Brian Helgeland, Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor

The Word: In a summer of supernatural or at the least far-flung action films, “Salt” provides a bonafide political espionage action thriller. Jolie stars as an agent on the run when she’s accused of being a Russian spy sent to kill the president.

Rotten Tomatoes: 61% (good)

My Thoughts: Jolie is very good at what she does and what she does is kick some serious ass, fem style. Director Noyce and writers Helgeland and Wimmer are seasoned in many respects, so I expect this an enjoyable alternative to seeing “Inception” a third time.

Recommendation: If you’ve seen “Inception” already, you’d be hard-pressed to find another movie that will suit your tastes better than a dash of “Salt.”

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Ramona and Beezus

Directed by Elizabeth Allen
Written by Laurie Craig, Nick Pustay, Beverly Cleary (novels)
Starring: Selena Gomez, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel

The Word: The classic kids books about an imaginative little girl and her older sister come to life for Fox in one of the few live-action family offerings of the summer. Expect a lot of heart and PG humor.

Rotten Tomatoes: 54% (mixed)

My Thoughts: In a year where animated films are dominating the family market, my only thought is to expect “Ramona” and co. to crash. I don’t doubt the film’s heart, but I haven’t even seen any promotions. If I hadn’t sought out the trailer because I blog, I wouldn’t know this movie existed.

Recommendation: If you can take kids to “Despicable Me” or “Toy Story 3” and be entertained by it yourself, why see this film?

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Box Office Predictions

When a film comes out and generates so much discussion and recommendations and desires for second viewings and it won the box office the week before by about $30-some million, it’s good for another weekend. Look for Inception to make a strong second-week showing with $35-40 million.

Based on the success of the action thriller genre this time of year and the bankability of Angelina Jolie, I’m going to give Salt second place easily with $25 million, good enough to fend off the solid $20-million take I’m expecting from Despicable Me already in its third weekend.

Here’s where it gets tricky. I’m expecting about four films to all end up within a range of $6-8 million and there’s only room for two more in the Top Five. Considering the competition and the low number of theaters, I’m keeping “Ramona and Beezus” off the board. Because of it’s third place positioning, I have to give The Sorcerer’s Apprentice a slight edge in the race. If it’s not fourth it should still land at five. Then, in a neck-and-neck battle between tween and toys, I give the edge to Toy Story 3 by mere thousandths.

1. Inception
2. Salt
3. Despicable Me
4. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
5. Toy Story 3