Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is fantastic. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World made only $10.5 million this weekend, finishing in fifth place behind—wait for it—The Expendables, Eat Pray Love, The Other Guys, and Inception.

CinemaBlend has a pretty great breakdown of how a movie this good could've fared so poorly, but if you ask me, it boils down to a few things: Old people were confused/frightened by it, young people don't pay for movies anymore, and people of all ages would rather see something that's a known quantity (The Expendables, Eat Pray Love) than take their chances on something weird and new. (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad as hell Inception's doing as well as it is—but it's fair to say nobody would've given it a chance, or even made it in the first place, if it hadn't been for The Dark Knight.) God help me, I actually agree with a movie studio—take it away, Universal.

"Regardless of the perceived outcome, we are proud of this film. Studios need to continue to offer audiences good and original ideas/films," Uni said today [before continuing on, meekly and depressingly]. "We do wish a greater number of people went to see the film." [ :( ]

Scott Pilgrim's a pretty goddamn original piece of storytelling—but if it reminds me of anything else, tonally and narratively, it's The Big Lebowski. Back in 1998, Lebowski didn't do so great either (opening weekend: $5.5 million), but it's since blossomed into a huge cult hit and a perennial moneymaker on video—it's so popular, in fact, that it really doesn't even count as a cult-type deal anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if the exact same thing happens with Scott Pilgrim—and once people see what they missed in theaters, they're going to be pissed that they didn't see this on the big screen when they had the chance. Here's hoping that's what happens, anyway; otherwise, studios simply don't have a reason to make these sort of films anymore.

In related news, work is "already underway" on The Expendables 2.