Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” took the weekend box office crown, but its debut number was far from spectacular.
The comedy-drama, which featured Adam Sandler and Apatow-regular Seth Rogen in the lead roles, opened to an estimated $23.4 million. That puts the movie’s debut weekend 14% ahead of the bow for Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” but 23.8% less than the “Knocked Up” opening.
Worse, of Apatow’s three directorial releases, “People” was the only to decline in gross from Friday to Saturday. That paints a questionable picture about its legs at the box office, a trademark of the previous Apatow films that helped them turn solid openings into strong cumulative comedy grosses.
The modest opening also once again indicates that Adam Sandler is failing to draw outside of the PG-13 audience. Most of his recent younger-skewing comedies opened in the $30-40 million range, and those did so without the built-in audience of Apatow’s films. So while Sandler likely offered a bit of drawing assistance to actors like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill (who have seen their popularity at the box office cool off), it is clear he did not change the game.
“Aliens in the Attic,” the other major new release, bombed with $7.8 million. “The Collector” opened on a semi-wide scale (1325 screens) to $3.7 million.
Weekend Top Ten:
1) Funny People – $23.4 million
2) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $17.7 million ($255.5 million)
3) G-Force – $17.1 million ($66.5 million)
4) The Ugly Truth – $13 million ($54.5 million)
5) Aliens in the Attic – $7.8 million
6) Orphan – $7.3 million ($26.8 million)
7) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $5.3 million ($181.8 million)
8) The Hangover – $5.1 million ($255.8 million)
9) The Proposal – $4.9 million ($148.9 million)
10) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $4.6 million ($388.1 million)
