In Contention

Tag: She’s Out of My League

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Dear ‘Diary,’ Why wasn’t I in 3D?

    Diary of a Wimpy Kid*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    I haven’t heard a single person say “Alice in Wonderland” is anything but awful yet here we stand at its third weekend atop the box office. The film added another $34.5 million to its staggering tally of $265.8 million and I don’t really know what to say about that. In 17 days it has already matched the totals of films like “Star Trek,” “Gladiator” and “Pearl Harbor.” Something is bringing people to this product in ridiculous numbers and barring a better explanation, Hollywood is assuming that it’s the 3D so get ready to see “Little Fockers” and “True Grit” in an extra dimension this Christmas. Hell, get ready to see Burger King commercials in 3D soon enough.

    Second place goes to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” which exceeded expectations with $21.8 million. I attribute this to the robust star power of Zachary Gordon and his monumentally popular voice work in “Santa Buddies.” Fox’s marketing managed to make the PG-rated flick look appealing to teenagers and some young adults without alienating kids and parents like “Drillbit Taylor” did so kudos to them.

    “The Bounty Hunter” is a surprising third place finisher with $21.0 million. Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are the epitome of modern movie stars where they have a number of big films under their belt and solid name recognition but can’t open just any old movie to big numbers. Luckily, their pairing here and Sony’s marketing muscle earned them just enough to stay on the B-list. Your move “Killers.”

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Lean ‘Zone’

    Matt Damon in Green Zone*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return to the screen this week with their third collaboration and first outside of the Jason Bourne series. That particular franchise has done wonders for the careers of both men, particularly Greengrass, who won an Oscar nomination for “United 93,” but didn’t exactly see the film break the bank. Damon too, was just recognized by the Academy but had one of his leanest box office years on record with the stuttering “The Informant!” and “Invictus.”

    So here they stand with “Green Zone,” a stylistic twin to their bread and butter series. Universal is doing everything they possibly can to pretend this is just another Bourne film and has absolutely nothing to do with Iraq. “The Bourne Supremacy” debuted with $64.4 million en route to a $216.0 million finish. “The Bourne Ultimatum” did even better with a $76.6 million start and $251.6 million total. Compare that to the $14.7 million of “The Hurt Locker.” The best the Iraq War has ever done at the box office is the $52.6 million of “The Kingdom.” The only thing more poisonous at the box office than Iraq is Eddie Murphy. Hey-Oh! I think we’re looking at a subdued $18 million debut here.

    “She’s Out of My League” takes the subtext of every Judd Apatow produced comedy and makes it the whole plot. Ugly funny dude lands a boring hot chick and hopefully we all get a couple chuckles out of it. This is obviously trying to be for Jay Baruchel what “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was for Jason Segal but I’m afraid that film’s $18.8 million debut will be out its league. Double digits will be a good result at this point so I’m saying $10 million.
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