Joe brews up $56 million in U.S. and $44M overseas, J&J gets $20M domestic, no one else can stir up double digits despite height of summer vacation
By Keith Williams

GI Joe kicks ass despite reviews

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 8/9/09 – Fighting a wave of negative buzz greater than any major studio film has had to face to this summer, G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra demolished an estimated $56.2 million at 4007 toy shops this weekend, with Meryl Streep’s latest, Julie & Julia baking a tasty $20.1 million at 2354 canteens. Late summer thriller wannabe, A Perfect Getaway, got stuck in traffic, taking a desultory $5.7 million at 2159 freeway exits.

Back in 1998, director Stephen Sommers made what many now considered to be one of the best cult films of all time, Deep Rising. An underperformer in its day for Disney, Sommers, undeterred went on to create the hugely successful Brendan Fraser/Mummy franchise for Universal, before falling flat on his face with the much derided, CGI-overdosed Van Helsing (which actually works much better on TV than it did in the cinema). Now, with a reputed budget of $175 million (plus marketing), he’s back with another potential action/fantasy franchise which despite looking suspiciously like Team America without the strings, garnered even more vicious reviews than Professor Helsing ever did. Rumor has it action editor/director Stuart Baird was brought in to “save” the movie, but this is common practise in Hollywood where surgery editors are wheeled-in at the last moment more to calm studio executive nerves than actually make a film better. Reaction from fans appears more positive than what toffee-nosed critics thought, but whether it’s enough to propel Paramount into profit on this very expensive escapade remains sight unseen as yet, though a noticeable dip on Saturday doesn’t auger well for its cross-over appeal to mainstream audiences.

Julie & Julia, this year’s annual Mamma Meryl fun fest, opened wisely as counter-programming to the blockblaster above, proving yet again there’s gold in them thar hills for actresses usually confined to barracks after a certain age. Based on the life, and recipes, of Julia Child, this frothy comedy from writer/director Nora Ephron seems to have eradicated the bad memories of her last effort, Bewitched, and provided yet another opportunity for co-star Amy Adams to shine. Expect little interest from males and cineastes, but for those hankering a dose of more mature chickflick fare, forget conveyor-belt junk food such as The Ugly Truth and go for the cordon bleu.

Third place in the top ten remains, as last week, the mirthless G-Force, tumbling 44% to $9.8 million, Harry Potter falls two places to no 4 with a 50.4% drop in demand for magic spells and $8.8 million, Funny People crashes from its top position last week to 5 on a laughter-free 65.3% plunge and $7.8 million in forced smiles, pushing The Ugly Truth into the no 6 slot on a 46.9% nosedive and $7 million.

Despite upbeat reviews from critics suggesting A Perfect Getaway, entering the charts at 7, is a neat little B-movie thriller, potential audiences weren’t impressed and stayed away from what looks like in the trailer something very familiar and derivative. Bringing to mind Turistas and The Ruins, both which bombed at the box-office (unfairly so in the case of The Ruins), one would have thought that Rogue Pictures which produced this would have realised by now the lack of interest in tourists being terrorised in the jungle on holiday. Or maybe they thought they could get that template to work this time. Maybe they did, but a generic title that suggests a crime caper more than terror/thriller, an unlikely pairing of Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich, and fans gearing themselves up for Rob Zombie’s H2 and Final Destination 3D before the end of the month, couldn’t have helped.

Aliens in the Attic, at no 8, returned to wherever they came from on a 50% downward trajectory and $4 million, Orphan, last week’s horror film du jour found itself unwanted on a 50.4% drop in adoptions and $3.7 million, leaving the top ten exit door to swing open this weekend to invite (500) Days of Summer inside, the only film in the charts to actually increase business with a 34.1% rise in attendances and $3.7 million ($12.3 million gross to date).

Regarding last week’s report on the box-office for G-Force, several of our rodent readers have written in to point out it did not feature 3D Hamsters as stated, but that the starring roles of the Bruckheimer/Disney movie were in fact played by guinea pigs. Apologies to the agents, managers, and lawyers of all those involved.

WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, AUGUST 7-9, 2009

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount)
$56.2 million | 4,007 | $56.2 million | 1

2. Julie & Julia (Sony / Columbia)
$20.1 million | 2,354 | $20.1 million | 1

3. G-Force (Buena Vista)
$9.8 million | 3,482 | $86.1 million | 3

4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.)
$8.9 million | 3,455 | $273.8 million | 4

5. Funny People (Universal)
$7.9 million | 3,008 | $40.4 million | 2
Weekend Estimates courtesy boxofficemojo.com