Christopher Nolan's first film since his $500 million juggernaut "The Dark Knight" wasn't expected to have a big weekend. But good reviews -- and heavy fan recommendations -- helped "Inception" earn $60.4 million at the box office over the weekend -- enough for first place.

The film -- which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page -- centers on agents who can invade people's dreams in order to extract information. However, a businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants to do something different: He wants to implant a thought in a competitor's mind that will give him a corporate advantage. And he needs DiCaprio's Cobb to do it.

"Inception" was filmed on a $160 million budget, and is resonating well with young audiences under 25, but getting mixed reviews from older viewers, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Disney spent a similar amount of money to make "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel and Alfred Molina, however no one seemed to notice it was there. That film, written by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard and directed by "Jericho's" Jon Turtletaub, earned just $17.4 million over the weekend, following about $7 million made since its Wednesday opening.

Konner and Rosenthal, by the way, were a pair of writers involved with 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." The two have since worked together on "Mighty Joe Young," "Planet of the Apes" and the HBO series "The Sopranos."

The other major genre film at the box office, "Predators," took a huge fall in its second week, earning $6.8 million, losing 78 percent of its opening week audience.