Box-Office Benjamin$: Funny People Laughs Its Way To #1, Right In The Middle Of Virgin & Knocked Up

Sorry for the hiatus folks, but after Comic-Con I think studios needed a week or so to decompress, thus resulting in the VERY slow past five days of movie news. Anyway, I’m back with this week’s edition of Box-Office Benjamin$ and Judd Apatow’s Funny People is on top, taking in a respectable $22.7 million during it’s opening weekend. This could be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for a labeled “R-rated blockbuster comedy” with such name-brand star-power, while The Hangover makes over twice as much on its opening weekend. Word must have spread about the heightened level of emotional drama, compared to Apatow’s previous two films, which maybe some people didn’t like or want to see.  But that is why I think this movie is so great and is FAR superior as a motion picture than The Hangover. Check out my review of Funny People HERE.

It’s not all over for Funny People though, as Apatow’s flicks tend to take some time to get rolling. The 40-Year-Old Virgin only made just over $21 million on its opening weekend and then went on to gross over $100 million. Knocked Up only made $30 million its opening weekend and then went on to rake in an impressive $150 million domestically. Funny people is in the middle of the pack and can hopefully get some repeat viewings from movie-goers who appreciate Apatow’s creative ambition to make a comedy with potty humor, as well as real emotional substance.

I wasn’t able to talk about this last week, but boy WTF happened to Harry Potter? It got smoked last week by G-Force. Wow! Seems outrageous, right? Maybe not. Upon further examination, HP6 seems to be following the pattern of all the previous Potter flicks. HP6 currently stands at $255 million domestically and the only film to gross more than $300 million is HP1 with $317 million  back in 2001. While this seems to follow suit in regards to box-office, I have to ask, what’s the deal Potter fans? Doesn’t the HP fan-base scour worldwide and is comprised of hundreds of millions of people? Why can’t all these movies at least break $300 million each? Do you not like the films? Would you rather Warner Bros. not make them at all? What’s the deal nerds?!?!?!?!?!?

This weekend should be interesting. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra finally hits theaters and this is going to either go one way or the other. It’s either going to be really surprising and make like $70 million, or it’s going to crash and burn immediately and make like $21 million. Reviews thus far have actually been extremely positive, contrary to pre-conceived notions of sub-par/mediocrity. I’m gonna be a glass half-full guy and go with a surprisingly successful debut. Remember Fast & Furious surprised everyone a few months ago by taking in over $75 million its opening weekend, and at least G.I. Joe is a fresh franchise. So I think its got a good chance.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is going to be #1 this weekend, taking in a surprising $62 million. Whoooaaaaa!!! I know right? There’s virtually no other competition. But you know what always fairs well? Horror. Coming in second will be the island horror/thriller A Perfect Getaway (with Mila Jovovich and Steve Zahn), taking in $23 million. Funny People is going to make a run at #3 and take it with a solid $17 million second weekend. Meryl Streep’s Julie & Julia will flop and take in barely over $14 million. HP6 will round out the top 5 with $12 million. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 At The Box-Office from this past weekend.

CHAMP: Funny People $22.7 million
2) HP6 $17.9 million
3) G-Force $17.5 million
4) The Ugly Truth $13.2 million
5) Aliens in the Attic $8 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.