Box Office Report: Funny Edition

Dude here again. I took last week off, but this week I'm back with an even BETTER box office report! In all actuality, I had written a box office report, but it was just a piece that was marvelling over the sheer awesomeness of Orphan. And I may have given away the twist ending. Which is that it was al a dream, and the little girl was Keyser Soze.

And Bruce Willis was dead the whole time. (Spoiler)

This weekend, some funny people try to wrangle the top spot from talking rodents. And a whole slew of other movies opens up below the radar. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).

1. Funny People (Uni) - $23.4, 3008 screens, week 1, $23.4 total

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (WB) - $17.7, 4393 screens, week 3, $255.4 total

3. G-Force (BV) $17.0, 3697 screens, week 2, $66.4 total

4. The Ugly Truth (Sony) - $13.0, 2882 screens, week 2, $54.4 total

5. Aliens in the Attic (Fox)- $7.8, 3106 screens, week 1, $7.8 total

6. Orphan (WB)- $7.2, 2750 screens, week 2, $26.7 total

7. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox)- $5.3, 2757 screens, week 5, $181.8 total

8. The Hangover (WB)- $5.0, 2071 screens, week 9, $255.7 total

9. The Proposal (BV) - $4.8, 2453 screens, week 7, $148.8 total

10. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (P/DW) - $4.6, 2626 screens, week 6, $388.1 total

So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that Funny People may have a reason to cry. (I am so ashamed of having written that). While taking the top spot, and much critical acclaim, funny People performed significantly less than the previous Apatow outings. Which is understandable, as Funny People is 2 and a half hours long and more dramatic (while still being hilarious) than typical Apatow/Sandler/Rogen fare. Not a good summer for Universal, whose films (Land of the Lost, Drag Me To Hell, Public Enemies, Bruno) have been underperforming all summer, regardless of quality.

Aliens in the Attic! Audiences in the Other Theaters!

I'm sort of amazed that The Hangover and The Proposal are still on this list. And I'm happy they made more money than the Transforming robots. Someday, I promise, I'l let go of my grudge on that movie. And that day will be when Megan Fox hand delivers me my refund in a leopard print bikini and an actual transforming Dodge Challenger that doesn't speak in jive.

Below the radar, The Collector opened up just behind the transforming robots, taking in $3.6 million. Adam opened on 4 screens and took in $66,300, a surf documentary called The Cove also opened on 4 screens and took in $55,500, while Thirst, Park Chan-wook's vampire film took in $55,200. And (500) Days of Summer continues it's perch at number 12, but it continually expands screens and grosses, making it one of the sleeper hits of the summer that you'll eventually wind up seeing, and some hipster d-bag will say "I saw it months ago".

There you have my amazing break down. Next week, another loud movie based on toys from my childhood! But don't forget to catch the exciting conclusion of The Storm this evening, on NBC! (Check your local listings). It's like the idiot love child of Crash and The Day After Tomorrow when they had sloppy drunken sex with a broken condom called Hard Rain!

Until next weekend.......