THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE

The Mouse House debuted "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" on Wednesday to a mediocre $3.7 million, much the same as Tom Cruise did with “Knight and Day” debuting midweek. That film went on to gross just $20 million over the weekend.

It’s pretty obvious Disney’s live action flicks are struggling this summer domestically, as “Prince of Persia,” even with the prime Memorial Day weekend launch, failed to reach $100 million. It was, however, a king overseas, where the $200 million action film has taxed citizens to the tune of $236 million so far.  

Disney will need another foreign savior at this rate, to bail out uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer again, who spent an estimated $150 million on this live-action revamping of a scene from Mickey’s “Fantasia.” It certainly won't help having to go up against Christopher Nolan's latest, and with “Despicable Me” becoming a surprise hit with kiddies and families, it is highly unlikely Disney will pull a rabbit out of their hat with this one. Expect grosses of $23 million for the weekend, upwards of $30 million for the 5-day gross.

INCEPTION

The “I’s” have it. “Iron Man 2” was the most anticipated movie of summer’s first wave, and "Inception" is the film with the most buzz coming into the dog days of summer. And, in all likelihood, Christopher Nolan’s latest may just be the only film that has a shot of unseating "Toy Story 3" as the top movie of the summer.

To do that though, it will need a strong opening of $70+ million and sensational holds weekend to weekend for the remainder of the summer…which it just might do considering the weak slate of films. Reviews have been off-the-chart ridiculous. In fact, if you believe them all, the Academy might just want to reserve the Best Picture statuette right now.

The Leonardo DiCaprio topper certainly has the buzz of the first "Matrix" film, and if it can capitalize on the growing hype, its debut might be the best ever for a film not based on previous subject matter. Last fall, “Avatar” debuted with $77 million, although it had 3-D ticket prices to boost its bottom line. “Inception” won’t have the third dimension to lean on, but it will have a record 193 IMAX screens showing the film.

Nolan hasn't missed yet, in terms of critical praise, and it looks like he has just the ticket for summer blockbuster fans and arthouse auds alike. That is a rare combo that may just pay off with every conceivable demographic on board to see the PG-13 rated sci-fi action flick.

Many prognosticators are being conservative and whispering about $50-60 million, but I’m going out on a limb with $80 million, as I believe audiences have been yearning for a real showstopper since “Iron Man 2” kicked off the season way back in early May.

"Inception" may not have a Slurpee named after it, a video game adaptation, or a Happy Meal tie-in, but it is still set to take over the pop culture world by storm after this weekend.   

You can count the number of director’s that are household names on one hand, and Nolan is now one of them. After the brilliance of “The Dark Knight” and “Batman Begins” he finally rides on his own coattails and looks like he will concoct a box office behemoth. Holy mind bending monstrosities, Batman!