Dancing and aliens couldn’t knock down the boxing robots.

Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, kept its top spot at the box office, although just barely. Falling a respectable 40.3% to earn $16.3 million bringing its domestic box office total to $51.7 million.

Coming in second was the remake of Footloose with $16.1 million. There is a chance that once the final tallies come out later today that #1 and #2 could switch places, but it was definitely a close call.

The Thing shape shifted its way into a disappointing third place with a meager $8.7 million. Things aren’t looking too good for this remake … what a shock.

The Ides of March, the latest George Clooney vehicle, did a pretty good job of holding on, falling 28.4% to bring in $7.5 million, bringing its domestic total for two weeks to $22.1 million.

Wrapping up the top five was Dolphin Tale which slipped a further 30.2% to bring in $6.3 million.

This week’s other semi-high profile opening for The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson debuted in eighth place with an abysmal $3.3 million.  With a so-so advertising campaign that completely ignored the bird watching premise of the story, this isn’t a huge surprise, but still ranks as one of the worst openings for all three actors.

Next weekend has Johnny English Reborn, The Mighty Macs, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Three Musketeers. The only one with any real hope of doing well, in my opinion is the third entry in the Paranormal Activity series, and even that I have low hopes for.

I Don’t Know How She Does It? $32,000 this weekend bringing its domestic total to $9.569 million off a $24 million budget. This just gets uglier with each passing weekend.

A lot of times when you see box office results, the only one that seems to matter is the United States, but with just about everything else in the world these days, there is a big world out there that also matters.

As I have said a countless number of times, for a movie to be considered a success in the United States it needs to gross double its budget to take into account advertising, distribution, prints and more. So why would a movie that cost $40 million to make and only made $28 million in the United States be getting a sequel? Because it did $160.5 million worldwide.  And that, folks, is how Johnny English Reborn came into being.

The original Johnny English was the creation of Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame and came out in 2003.  While he has had great success in the realm of television, this was a rare incursion strictly into the world of film for the beloved comedian.  While $160.5 isn’t huge, it’s a profit, and depending on the cost of the sequel, it’s almost assured to be another success.

It makes me wonder, while the lion’s share of box office returns may come from the U.S., are we becoming less important?  Just take a look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 and it’s rise to the third highest grossing film of all time.  While it has made a healthy $366.6 million in the U.S., it has hit $901 million internationally.  While the biggest concentration comes from the U.S., it really didn’t need us.

This is something I plan on watching a bit closer.  Until then, enjoy the trailer for Johnny English Reborn.