With almost no mainstream reviews prior to Friday’s release and the tall shadow of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” looming over, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” opened its box office run with a strong first day.
Though the film’s final, cumulative gross will not change film history, the film net a solid $22.3 million Friday. That gives “Joe” August’s biggest non-sequel opening day of all time. If the film lives up to tracking estimates, now at just over $60 million, it could finish third on the all-time August opening weekend list behind “The Bourne Ultimatum” ($69.3 million) and “Rush Hour 2” ($67.4 million). “Signs,” a non-sequel August debut, earned $60.1 million in 2002 after opening to $20.9 million on Friday.
“Julie & Julia” will not battle “G.I. Joe” for the weekend crown, but it did solid numbers in its own right. The film opened with $6.5 million Friday. Fellow new release “A Perfect Getaway” was not so lucky–with $2.1 million in its first night, it was not even in the box office’s top five.
Meanwhile, last week’s champ “Funny People” is not showing the legs of prior Judd Apatow-directed films. Down to $2.6 million at the Friday box, it dropped 70% from last Friday’s bow. By comparison, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” dropped only 31.3% for its second Friday while “Knocked Up” dropped 36.8%.
