The second movie bowing this weekend was the new Mike Myers vehicle, The Love Guru. Myers has been everywhere lately promoting his movie, and the best he could come up with was a fourth-place $14 million total. Maybe people are finally getting a better nose for avoiding crap at the cinemas, or maybe Mike Myers’ time as Mr. Goofy Character has come to an end. It’s been a long time since the last Austin Powers film (and he’ll go back to Austin Powers in a hurry, mark my words), and this particular movie makes Goldmember look like Caddyshack.
The Happening, the pseudo-comeback movie from maligned director M. Night Shyamalan, did fairly well this weekend, with a fifth-place finish. The last of the films in the top 10 to pick up a gross total in the eight-digit range, Night doesn’t appear to be falling from the top 10 any time soon. For a restricted film from a guy who had become something of a joke, The Happening has performed surprisingly well. Thus far, it is the third-highest-grossing R-rated movie this year, trailing behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall and of course, eighth-place Sex and the City ($6.4 million this weekend, $132.3 million dollars overall).
Two movies stand poised on opposite sides of the $300 million dollar barrier. This weekend, Iron Man (ninth place, $4 million gross) crossed the blockbuster line. During its eight-week run so far, it’s taken in a staggering $304.7 million dollars. Next weekend, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (sixth place, $8.4 million dollars) will cross that barrier. Indy’s taken in $290.8 million dollars so far, and considering how well it has been performing, a week should be plenty of time to bring in $9.2 million dollars.
Next weekend is a tale of a more traditional summer mismatch. The latest animated juggernaut, from Disney/Pixar, squares off against a hyper violent comic book adaptation. Wall-E, from the creators of among other things The Incredibles, looks to destroy everything in its path in a cute and cuddly manner. This one won’t even be close.
Wanted, the glossy action yarn helmed by the man behind the highest-grossing Russian language film ever, Timur Bekmambetov, puts Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy together with Morgan Freeman (who is apparently everywhere) in this adaptation of the Mark Millar comic. Yes, Angelina Jolie is a huge star, but when has she ever been money at the box office? Aside from Tomb Raider, she’s more famous for being pretty than for being a box-office draw (anyone could’ve played Mrs. Smith, and aside from a good gross for the Nic Cage remake of Gone in 60 Seconds and some voice work), she’s been mostly negligible on the big screen. This trend won’t change, and going against a Pixar cutesplosion won’t help her any.
