Box-Office Benjamin$: G.I. Joe’s Cobra “Commands” The #1 Spot. Ha Ha, Get It?

Looks like I was finally right with my G.I. Joe box-office prediction, or at least close. Last week I predicted that Joe & Co. would top the box-office this weekend with $62 million. I was only off by $6 million as Joe brought in an impressive $56.2 million from Friday to Sunday. The rest of my predictions were way, off, but I digress. So despite mostly negative reviews and just general negative perceptions prior to release, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra showed, like Transformers 2, that mindless action can find a significant audience during the summer months. So much so, that Paramount has already announced plans to very soon, initiate development on G.I. Joe 2: Reign of Cobra?. Classic.

The Movie Mash hasn’t posted a review for Joe yet because I’m leaving that responsibility to our very own Mr. Travis Andries, as he is a G.I. Joe connoisseur. He’s taking his time to give the best, most in-depth and analytical analysis possible because of his life-long passion for Joe. Just quickly from me, I thought it was entertaining, had some cool action sequences, but ultimately was too cheesy and had too much action to make it a coherent film. Also, Channing Tatum is the worst actor on the planet. So…(B-).  Stay tuned for that full review to be up in the next couple days. What’s interesting is that Joe was really the only movie that had much success this weekend, as the #2 spot went to Julie & Julia starring Merl Streep, which took in only $20 million; not a shabby amount for a film such as that, but a significant drop off from the #1 to #2 spot. The rest of the top five were in single digits.

This weekend should prove to be interesting as arguably the most-anticipated (at least for me), yet most unknown movie of the summer is about to hit theaters, District 9. I’ve been discussing the awesomeness of this film for a while now, but regardless of the bombardment of TV ads, it’s still a question mark because of the unknown actors and director involved. Reviews should do nothing but help the film as it is currently sitting at a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, a number that is of course subject to change. The film is apparently so good, that it’s currently the cover of Entertainment Weekly with the title, “Why District 9 Will Blow Your Mind.”  So while I am ecstatic and everyone in the biz who has seen it, loves it, can a completely original sci-fi movie that has no major stars and a rookie director make a splash at the box-office? Hellz yeah I say! G.I. Joe will have a major drop-off of 50% or more because of bad word-of-mouth, Julie & Julia won’t do anything more than another $12-15 million. And the only other same-day competition that it has is The Time Traveler’s Wife, which actually could prove as a worthy advisory; pitting the fanboys vs. date night. I still think that District 9 will come out on top and take in $40 million over three days. The Time Traveler’s Wife will come in second and take in $32 million. And G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra will round out the top three and take in $26 million over its second weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

CHAMP: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $56.2 million
2) Julie & Julia $20.1 million
3) G-Force $9.8 million
4) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $8.8 million
5) Funny People $7.8 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.