Warner Bros' contemporary sci-fi actioner "Inception" has succeeded in staying on top of the domestic box office for the second weekend, taking in 43.5 million U.S. dollars in movie ticket receipts, the North America box office authority said on Sunday.

The poster of movie "Inception" [Xinhua]

The mind-bending sci-fi spectacular which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe and others was helped by its word-of-mouth reviews and the massive appeal of acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan. It is projected to have accumulated 143.7 million dollars in sales in Canada and the United States for eight days.

That's the smallest such decline for any movie that's opened this year and one of the best ever for a film that didn't play its second weekend over a holiday, analysts said.

Sony/Columbia's action thriller "Salt," which stars Angelina Jolie, opened in second place, with 36.5 million dollars in projected sales. A contemporary espionage thriller about a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy and becomes a federal fugitive, "Salt" debuted in 3,612 theaters and is set to be helped by the appeal of Jolie and also largely positive reviews.

Universal's computer-animated 3-D feature film "Despicable Me" has managed to keep its money-earning streak, staying in third place of the box office with 24.1 million dollars. It has garnered a total of 161.7 million dollars in ticket sales over three weeks.

In fourth place is "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Walt Disney Studios' new live-action version of "Fantasia," which eased 45 percent in its second weekend, grossing 9.7 million dollars this weekend, for a total of 42.6 million dollars in two weeks.

"Toy Story 3,'' from Disney/Pixar, is fifth with 9 million dollars this weekend, and 379.5 million dollars over six weeks.

The weekend's another nationwide debut "Ramona and Beezus," a Fox family film adapted from the book "Ramona Forever" and featuring characters from the "Ramona" series of children's novels by Beverly Cleary, was screened at 2,719 movie theaters. It was sixth with 9 million dollars in projected sales.