As expected The Expendables 2 topped the US box office over the weekend with $28.7 million, slightly below the $34 million the first movie made in 2010. Although it means the movie is still likely to turn a profit, with diminishing returns on the franchise already, it may put a spanner in the works of the already planned Expendables 3.

The action film was one of several new movies coming out now the Olympics have ended. The next highest new entry was Paranorman, which placed third on the chart with $14 million. That’s about in line with several other recent stop-motion efforts, which seems to be a subgenre that finds it difficult to appeal to a wide audience.

The musical Sparkle, starring Whitney Houston, made $12 million on its opening, which isn’t a huge amount but it considered okay for a movie that wasn’t strongly marketed. The final new entry was the long delayed The Odd Life Of Timothy Green, which made $10.9 million. Disney isn’t likely to be too happy about that, even if they have long seemed unsure what to do with the movie, starting the marketing for it a year ago, but never building much momentum.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 17th-19th.

The Bourne Legacy got off to a decent start at the US box office, scoring a $40 million three-day opening. That’s less than the previous Bourne sequels, but that’s not surprising considering the lack of Matt Damon in this one, but it’s still ahead of the first film, which took $27 million on its first weekend. The real question is whether the movie will have legs, which remains to be seen, but the film has had okay reviews and may well do well in the coming weeks.

The Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis political comedy The Campaign came second with an okay but not spectacular $27 million. It’s good news for Ferrell, whose last couple of movies have severely underperformed at the box office (neither Case De Mi Padre or Everything Must Go passed $3 million on their openings).

The only other new entry was Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a married couple looking to spice up their lives. It took $15.6 million over the weekend and $20 million since it hit cinema last Wednesday. It’s not a terrible opening, but with Steve Carell also starring, the studio was probably hoping for a little bit more.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 10th-12th.

The Dark Knight Rises has handily won the US box office race for a third week running, taking $36 million for a very good take so far of $354 million. Batman beat out newcomer Total Recall, which took $26 million. That was at the lower end of expectations, and with suggestions it’s not going down well with audiences, it’s unlikely to keep its grosses up in the coming weeks. It may now be hard for Sony to make back the $125 million is spent on the 2012 makeover of Recall.

The only other new entry in the top 10 is Diary Of A Wimpy Kids: Dog Days, which placed third with $14.7 million. That’s less than the opening gross of the two previous Wimpy Kid movies, but as it only cost $22 million to make, the studio isn’t likely to be worrying too much, especially as the franchise has done very well on DVD.

Ted also had reason to celebrate, as it broke the $200 million mark over the weekend, which certainly isn’t bad for a movie that few people had that many expectations of just a month ago. Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 3rd-5th.