By Keith Williams

How can you be just not into them?

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/8/09 — Fans of Sex and the City returned by the busload this weekend to propel star-studded He’s Just Not That Into You to the top of the charts with an estimated $27.4 million at 3175 dating pools. Femme Fatale-ed into second place, Taken still shot up a potent $20 million, enough to stop newcomers Coraline with $16.3 million at 2298 parallel universes, Pink Panther 2 $12 million in 3243 gendarmeries, and Push with $10.2 million at 2313 time warps getting any higher.

With a title that defies gravity, He’s Just Not That Into You must have left a lot of studio executives scratching their mostly male heads in confusion – like, duh? What factor decides these days what women will pay to go out and see? Is it the story? The cast? The choice of what else is about? Or is it just down to what’s actually good, and what isn’t?

No help here with HJNTIY as it received generally withering reviews, has a great cast – Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlet Johansson, Ginnifer Goodwin and Drew Barrymore – is based on a best-selling novel, as well as being one of the now-defunct New Line orphans long-seeking theatrical release. SATC and Mamma Mia! screeched their way into many a female heart. The Women didn’t, Bride Wars was visited but not widely embraced, while after her chick flick New in Town bombed last week, Renee Zellweger must be drumming her fingers, perplexed by the whims of target audiences.

Coraline, the new 3D clay-mation fantasy from director Henry Selick, he of James and the Giant Peach and Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Xmas, opened okay if not spectacularly. Great reviews, striking visuals in the trailer, coupled with a sense that it might well turn out to be, well, too intelligent for the kiddie market, suggests it could be adults who appreciate this effort more. Cult status might be down the line, but right now the fact that it opened better than The Tale of Despereaux (which ended up taking about $60 million) augers well for the next couple of weeks at the very least.

Pink Panther 2 didn’t appear to get the nation laughing as much as its predecessor did, which isn’t exactly surprising considering how dismal that remake was. Sometimes a sequel can build on shaky elements from the original, producing something that’s actually better if not as commercial. Here, the lethal combination of Steve Martin emulating Peter Sellers, director Shawn Levy (he of Night at the Museum and Cheaper by the Dozen) proving to be no Blake Edwards, and the replacement of Kevin Kline with John Cleese, resulted in few if any comic sparks and weekend figures that mercifully promise a new franchise is already unborn.

Push, the new Chris Evans/Dakota Fanning sci-fi thriller proved to have some pull but not enough shove. Resembling a Wal-Mart version of Jumper, its importance lies in whether it can do for Summit what Twilight recently did. New franchise? Big bucks opening weekend even if it evaporates over the ensuing days? Perhaps in a future time warp it did indeed achieve its goals. Not in the present it didn’t.

Elsewhere in the nation’s top ten, Paul Blart continued to protect shopping malls at no 5, falling by 20.7% for $11 million, Slumdog Millionaire, seemingly the sole beneficiary of the Oscar nominees, declined a mere 3% for $7.4 million, while Gran Torino also registered a soft decline to take $7.2 million on a 12% drop. At no 9 The Uninvited saw even less visitors than last week, dropping 38% for $6.4 million, leaving House for Dogs shivering nervously next to the top ten exit door with $3.8 million on a 32.6% whine.
Weekend Estimates courtesy boxofficeguru.com