Loaded Couch Potatoes

A fairly bustling weekend for this part of the summer, it was a good time to be in the sci-fi business, with four out of the top five films falling into that genre.

(1)  District 9 ($37.3 million, $12,251 per screen):  Sony’s marketing department seems to have learned all the lessons there were to be learned from the successful opening of last year’s Cloverfield, and as a result, they got a pretty great opening weekend themselves.

It’s always impressive when a movie that is free of star actors opens well, and it’s doubly impressive when that movie isn’t based on a comic book or a bestselling novel or some other source with a built-in audience.  In this instance, it’s tempting to say that the star responsible for the successful launch is producer Peter Jackson; however, since his only hits were reliant not on his name but on the source material on which they were based, you can’t realistically say that the name “Peter Jackson” being on a poster is a name that guarantees ticket sales.

Instead, it appears that people responded to the trailers, which promised an inventive and substantial sci-fi action flick.  It’s an unmitigated triumph for director Neill Blomkamp, who will likely find himself in a situation to do whatever he wants to do next.

(2)  G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($22.3 million, $5571 per screen, $98.5 million total):  Falling 60% from its opening weekend, Paramount nevertheless has a solid performer on their hands with this one, which probably won’t make $150 million, but will certainly make enough of a dent that a sequel might well be a good investment.  Nobody seems to genuinely like the film except people who wear sweatpants out to eat, but the reception for the film has been surprisingly decent, and I’d expect the film’s dropoffs to level off quite a bit from here on out.

(3)  The Time Traveler’s Wife ($18.6 million, $6233 per screen):  Not an especially terrific opening weekend, but it’s respectable enough.  It’s been a busy summer for Eric Bana, who — between Star Trek and Funny People and now this — has been in a slew of high-profile releases.  This is the only one that leaned on him as a lead, and the mixed results are indicative of the kind of career he’s having: good enough that he keeps getting work, but never quite good enough to push him into the next level.

The same might be said of co-star Rachel McAdams, who at one point seemed like she might turn into the next Julia Roberts circa 1995, but now seems like she might turn into the next Julia Roberts circa 2005.

(4)  Julie & Julia ($12 million, $5121 per screen, $43.3 million total):  Down a surprisingly hefty 40% this weekend, it seems unlikely that it’s going to be a big performer.  With the summer coming to an end and the glut of high-profile pics aimed at women slowing down, though, don’t be surprised if it starts picking up steam.

(5)  G-Force ($6.9 million, $2256 per screen, $99 million total):  In the dregs of a deep recession, America can still find $100 million dollars lying around to spend on the movie about a secret spy force of talking guinea pigs.

Motherfucker.

(6)  The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard ($5.6 million, $3070 per screen):  The moment I realized that I had no interest in seeing this movie was the moment I found out that the film’s title is not The Goods, but The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.  Looks like America also couldn’t be bothered.  Looks like that boost from co-star Ed “The Hangover” Helms never happened.

(7)  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($5.1 million, $1855 per screen, $283.8 million total):  Factoring in inflation, it looks like this is one is going to be very marginally less successful than Order of the Phoenix.  I guess the series has gotten as popular as it’s going to get, but that’s proven to be pretty darn popular.

(8)  The Ugly Truth ($4.4 million, $1628 per screen, $77.4 million total):  Probably will only get one more weekend in the top ten, but it’s been a solid performer.

(9)  Ponyo ($3.5 million, $3868 per screen):  Making nearly twice what I expected it to make, you can’t quite call this movie a hit, but I don’t think it’s something anyone ought to feel ashamed of, either.  Miyazaki’s movies, apart from a cult crowd, have never caught on here in America, so the fact that (out of the top ten movies) Ponyo had the fifth-best per-screen average this weekend seems like a small triumph.  It’ll probably fade fast, but a final gross of close to $10 million is likely, and that’s not bad for a low-scale release like this one.

(10)  Funny People ($3 million, $1165 per screen, $47.9 million total):  Trust me, nobody at Universal thinks this is even the slightest bit funny.  The budget, according to Box Office Mojo, was $75 million.  Compare that to the $30 million spent on District 9, and try and figure out what good it did anybody to spend $75 million on this mess of a film.

Next weekend, it’s Tarantino versus Rodriguez, as both Inglourious Basterds and Shorts hit the screen.  Don’t be surprised if it’s neck-and-neck as to which one comes out on top.