Without much surprise Superbad was the number one movie in America this weekend. No matter how many times it's done or how mediocre it gets, the comedic desperation of awkward teenagers in their raunchy quest for sex, booze and a reputation for having had both always seems to draw the attention of American audiences. Of course, when you tack on that the main cast are all still relative newcomers to Hollywood with no major paycheck hang ups, you can make Superbad for a measely $20 million, making the movie and its $31 million dollar opening weekend a financial hit right out of the box.
Other new releases this weekend weren't so successful. The Invasion, a body-snatcher flick that somehow roped in Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, drew a disappointing $6 million, an amount probably too small to cover Daniel Craig's salary, much less what Kidman likely demanded. The Weinsteins had yet another stinker on their hands. Arthurian epic The Last Legion was nothing more than an epic failure, barely scraping together $2.5 million which earned it twelfth place for the weekend.
With summer officially over and done with, Hollywood has abandoned its obsession with sequels and is turning audiences towards sleepier fares. Look mostly for movies that are either not worth your time or great stuff that you'd still just as soon wait to rent as pay $20 to see at the theater. Next weekend Rowan Atkinson revives his classic physical comedy style for Mr. Bean's Holiday while Scarlett Johanssen tries to figure out if she has a sense of comedy in The Nanny Diaries. Samuel L. Jackson makes another Oscar bid alongside Josh Hartnett in Resurrecting The Champ and Jet Li goes head to head with Jason Statham in the unimaginatively titled WAR.
In smaller release, September Dawn, a movie about the Mormon incited Mountain Meadows Massacre, will hit theaters also, but don't expect to hear much more about it - not because it's not true or not controversial, but because the only things going for it are Jon Voight and an overdeveloped sense of sensationalism. In other words, it doesn't have much going for it at all.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP TEN August 17 - 19, 2007
LW = Last Week WR = Weeks Released THTRS = Number of Screens * Denotes new release. Click on title to read CB Review
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