Inception was last weekend’s box office winner, and that film is a big-budget, action movie with a mega-watt star, and this weekend’s biggest opening delivers a similar formula. The film we’re talking about is called Salt, and it’s the new thriller starring Angelina Jolie.
One interesting tidbit about Salt is that it’s about Russian spies. That subject hadn’t been in the news in decades, but ironically, and happily for the producers of Salt, Russian spies recently became front page news for the first time in years. And then, for Angelina Jolie, the fact that this is a CIA-spy-thriller means that it’s an action film, and other than some animated voice work she’s done, action movies have been her most financially successful projects. Films like Wanted, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and her Lara Croft franchise have all been big at the box office, yet Angelina’s award nominations all come from her reality-based dramatic performances.
Of course for Angelina, this film is not only a return to the action genre, but it’s also a return to work. With motherhood as a priority, Angelina Jolie hasn’t had a release since June of 2008 when Wanted came out.