Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (pictured) deliver the comedy Baby Mama (reviews); John Cho as Harold and Kal Penn as Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (reviews); And Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor play a game of Deception (reviews) with each other...
Dave McNary and Pamela McClintock of Variety:
Universal's "Baby Mama" and New Line/Warner Bros.' "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" will vie for the loudest laugh when opening at the domestic box office today in what's shaping up to be a battle of the sexes at the multiplexes.
The other new wide release of the weekend -- the final frame before the box office summer officially starts -- is New Regency's thriller "Deception," which isn't supposed to make much of a dent despite the star billing of Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams. Fox opens the pic in 2,001 locations.
"Baby Mama," starring comedic duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, should prove fertile ground for woman of all ages, particularly younger ones. Pic, which pokes fun at America's obsession with babies and surrogate motherhood, is rated PG-13 and opens in 2,543 runs.
Stoner comedy "Harold & Kumar," starring John Cho and Kal Penn, is tracking strongest among younger men. Next up are older males. The R-rated pic, an irreverent look at the Bush Administration's post-9/11 policies and a follow-up to DVD cult fave "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," opens in 2,510.
"Harold & Kumar" is the first New Line film released by Warner since New Line was disbanded as a standalone mini-major and made a label within the WB fold. The first "Harold & Kumar" film, released in 2004, cumed only $18 million at theaters but went on to become a DVD hit.
"Baby Mama" marks back-to-back comedy releases by Universal. Last weekend, U opened the Judd Apatow-produced "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" to $17.7 million. Pic placed No. 2 for the frame after Lionsgate's Jet Li-Jackie Chan starrer "Forbidden Kingdom," which opened to $21.4 million.
Universal has insisted that "Baby Mama" won't take auds away from "Sarah Marshall." Nor does the studio expect "Harold & Kumar" to pose a problem, saying the marketplace can shoulder three wide comedies.
Through Wednesday, "Sarah Marshall" grossed $22.6 million, "Forbidden Kingdom" $25.8 million...
Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly:
It's Tina and Amy vs. Harold and Kumar at the box office -- and our expert's putting his money on the funny ladies ..
Read More Here...
Next Week: The Summer movie season begins! Iron Man Finally Arrives... While Patrick Dempsey is Made Of Honor
No comments:
Post a Comment