The Heartbreak Kid had to settle for second place...
Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:
With an estimated $14 million, The Heartbreak Kid fell short of industry expectations and Ben Stiller's track record, but The Game Plan held well over a weak weekend…
Ben Fritz of Variety:
Disney broke hearts at DreamWorks this weekend as a strong $16.3 million second weekend for “The Game Plan” vanquished the weak $14 million bow of “The Heartbreak Kid.”
Ben Stiller starrer, the first under the new DreamWorks-Paramount moniker meant to emphasize the former studio’s independence from its corporate parent, averaged just $4,345 per screen at 3,229 theaters. Remake was one of Stiller’s lowest openings of recent years, behind comparable pics such as “Along Came Polly” and “Zoolander.”
Soft showing is the third in a row for helmers the Farrelly brothers, whose “Fever Pitch” and “Stuck on You” saw slightly lower debuts. However, 1998’s “There’s Something About Mary” opened with roughly the same B.O., albeit on 1,000 fewer screens, before going on to become a word of mouth hit and rake in $176 million.
“The Game Plan,” meanwhile, proved it had staying power as it fell only 29% on its second frame.
“We continued to draw very strong into families, but the adult audience actually expanded,” said Disney distribution topper Chuck Viane.
Sunday perf was undoubtedly helped by Monday’s holiday status, as more kids were able to go to movies at night.
The Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson starrer has now cumed $42.8 million, and it looks well positioned to extend its lead with Columbus Day still to come.
The other wide openers also fared poorly.
“The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising,” the first family pic from the new Fox-Walden partnership, barely registered, debuting at a dismal $3.75 million. Pic, which opened at 3,141 locations, averaged only $1,186 per play.
Sony bowed Jennifer Lopez-produced “Feel the Noise,” from TriStar, at 1,015 and grossed a soft $3.4 million, averaging $3,350 per screen.
Sony Pictures Classics took “The Jane Austen Book Club” wide on its third frame but wasn’t able to recruit many members, grossing a weak $1.5 million at 1,232. Per-play average was $1,246; cume is now $2 million.
Universal’s “The Kingdom” held well in its soph sesh, declining 45% to $9.3 million. That was good enough to land the Saudi Arabia-set terrorism thriller at No. 3 and up its cume to $31.4 million.
In limited release, Warner Bros.’ “Michael Clayton” had one of the best limited bows of the year, grossing a boffo $704,000 at 15 theaters. George Clooney starrer averaged $46,903 per screen and looks well positioned as Warner Bros. plans to take it wide to around 2,400 theaters Friday...
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Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly:
''The Heartbreak Kid'' flops and falls between The Rock and a hot place, finishing behind ''The Game Plan'' and ahead of ''The Kingdom''...
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