Chances are if you went to the movies this past weekend you went to see G.I. Joe. Let's face it, there wasn't a helluva lot to get steamed up over, and I think most people would prefer to see two ninjas clashing swords to watching Meryl Streep make Duck L'Orange or something.
1. G.I. Joe- $56.2M
That's a helluva lot of new recruits the Joes just enlisted. The big budget version of the Real American Heroes routed the enemy, it's middling charge led by a feisty but ill-equipped Amy Adams. This ranks as the 4th largest August opening in history(wha wha wha??), and the global haul for the film is roughly $100M. Considering the $175M it took to make the film, which is odd since the effects weren't that great but there were a lot of them, it won't take long for it to recoup it's losses. However it remains to be seen what the staying power for Joe will be. It's reviews have been mixed, and the competition kicks up a couple notches this week with similarly themed(atleast in appearance) District 9.
2. Julie and Julia- $20.1M
If we want to parce this thing out a little, Julie and Julia is the highest grossing live-action film about food ever. It's also the highest grossing live-action film the Food Network has ever endorsed. It's also the highest grossing live-action film featuring a roast chicken as a co-star. It's also...blah blah blah. $20M is a respectable opening for a film of this sort, buoyed by the likeability of it's two stars. Most movies about cooking, or set in restaurants tend to fall face-first into their soup. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Sony reports that the audience for this thing was 67% female, and John Nolan.
3. G Force- $9.8M/$86.1M
It kinda speaks volumes that a film about miltaristic gerbils is whoppin' the arse of a Judd Apatow's latest film nearly a month after it's debut. The G-Gang still slipped 44% which is about average but I honestly can't believe anyone expected this franchise(oh, and it WILL be a franchise) to have this much longevity. Only Richard Gere had this much confidence that it'd be a hit.
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- $8.88M/$274M
At this stage in the game Potter has conjured up over $816M worldwide. That buys a lot of broomsticks.
5. Funny People- $7.87M/$40.4M
There ain't nothin' funny about these numbers. Funny People is a dud, pure and simple. Dying to the tune of 65% of it's tally from last week, it's now on track to be the lowest grossing Apatow helmed film yet. I went over the reasons why it tanked last week, this week it's pure word of mouth. Expect a more judicious collapse next week when it gets pummeled by The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.
6. The Ugly Truth- $7M/$69.1M
With every dollar this film makes, a little bit less of Gerard Butler's coolness dies. At this rate he'll be playing the wife of a Spartan soldier in the 300 sequel.
7. A Perfect Getaway- $5.76M
I didn't have high hopes for this film to do anything financially, but this is ridiculous. Despite some fairly clever ads that for once don't spoil the deeper story, Getaway simply lacked the star power to make any real waves. Rogue Pictures reports that the breakdown is 52% male with the majority of those over 30, which kinda surprises me considering the young(ish) casting. Do yourself a favor and go check it out.
8. Aliens in the Attic- $4M/$16.3M
9. Orphan- $3.73M/$34.8M
Yay for murderous chillun'!
10. 500 Days of Summer- $3.73M/$12.3M
At the rate I've been pushing people to see this movie, Fox Searchlight might want to consider adding me on to their advertising team. Yes, I'm taking credit for it's finally breaking the Top 10, and for becoming the highest grossing indie flick of the summer, surpassing Sunshine Cleaning. Bear in mind that's not saying a whole lot, but the indie scene has been deluged with "quirky" romances this summer, none of which have quite latched on with mainstream audiences. Still, it's only playing at 817 sites, which is a paltry number compared to most everything else, but I'm hoping that it will expand further now that it's starting to get a foothold.
Also...
The Hangover just missed the Top 10, only dropping about 35%(again the lowest) for a total of $3.4M. Would I be surprised to see it find it's way back into the Top 10 next week? Nope. It just won't die.
Paper Heart finally debuted in limited release this week and performed admirably, boding well for it's expansion in a few days. The Michael Cera/Charlyne Yi mockumentary about their budding relationship brought in $206,000 in only 38 sites. Not too shabby.
