Pamela McClintock of Variety
..."Baby Mama" was easily the No. 1 movie of the weekend, grossing an estimated $18.3 million from 2,543 theaters and giving the studio its first top opener of the year.
Chick flick had no problem reaching its intended demo; a whopping 68% of the aud was female.
Comedy overall was the success story of the frame, fueling a box office rebound just as summer tentpoles prepare to open. Weekend grosses were up a sizable 17.2% over the same sesh last year.
New Line/Warner Bros.' R-rated stoner sequel "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" came in No. 2, grossing an estimated $14.6 million from 2,510 theaters on the strength of young men. U's raunchy R-rated laffer "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" declined just 38% in its soph sesh to an estimated $11 million from 2,799; cume is $35 million.
Lionsgate's Jet Li-Jackie Chan adventure-fantasy "Forbidden Kingdom" remained a worthy contender in its second sesh, narrowly edging out "Sarah Marshall" to take the No. 3 spot for the weekend. "Kingdom," produced by Casey Silver and financed by Relativity Media, declined 48% in its second sesh to an estimated $11.2 million from 3,151. Cume for the movie that marks the first appearance of Li and Chan together on the big screen is $38.2 million.
"Forbidden Kingdom" and the Judd Apatow-produced "Sarah Marshall," which placed No. 4, could switch places on the B.O. chart when final weekend numbers are posted today.
The weekend's other new wide release, "Deception," fared dismally. Produced by Arnold Rifkin and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the Hugh Jackman-Ewan McGregor thriller grossed a meager $2.2 million from 2,001 runs to place No. 10.
"Baby Mama," rated PG-13 and also starring Greg Kinnear, scored the second-best opening for a romantic comedy in April after "13 Going on 30," underscoring the popularity of Fey and Poehler, who worked together on "Saturday Night Live." "Baby Mama," about the politics of surrogate motherhood and the maternal urge, is only the second live-action studio pic that Fey has starred in, after "Mean Girls," which she also penned. Michael McCullers wrote and directed "Baby Mama."
"I think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the big draw. The marketing campaign said to auds, 'You are going to be entertained,' " said Universal [president] of distribution Nikki Rocco.
Both younger and older females turned out, with 45% of the audience under age 25. Pic cost $30 million to produce...
Joshua Rich of EW:
Tina Fey's conception comedy won the weekend box office, while ''Harold and Kumar'' came in second...
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