The Expendables proved to have the most firepower among this weekend's debuts as the Sylvester Stallone written and directed action flick powered its way to the number one slot.  The Expendables, which was independently financed, reportedly cost Lionsgate Films about $20 million for the rights to distribute, making this a wise investment on its part.  Julia Roberts' latest, Eat Pray Love, managed an okay beginning at over $23 million, good enough for second.  However, the latest indie comic to be brought to the big screen, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, faltered, coming in fifth place with a subpar $10.6 million in spite of being squarely marketed to the Playstation generation with a story that somewhat mirrored a video game itself.  Last week's openers, The Other Guys and Step Up 3D, each fell more than 50% in their second weekends.

August is typically the month where a lot of not-quite blockbusters are dumped as the back-to-school season begins, and this Friday's five new releases will likely continue that trend and underwhelm at the box office.  They include Lottery Ticket, Nanny McPhee Returns, Piranha 3D, The Switch, and Vampires Suck.  Still, all that overcrowding will undoubtedly cut heavily into the second week tallys of this week's debuts.

Here are the box office actuals for the weekend of August 13-15, 2010: