Funny Potter
In the US: The big news is that Judd Apatow's third film as director, FUNNY PEOPLE, managed to take the #1 spot, but it did so with an underwhelming $22.6m. It's now seen as a struggle for the comedy-drama to recoup its £75m budget, and critics are blaming the epic runtime and naval-gazing premise of a millionaire comedian facing his own mortality.
Even worse, CGI animation ALIENS IN THE ATTIC debuts at #5 with a paltry $8m haul, despite being released in 3,106 locations across the US.
US TOP 10
(-) 1. Funny People $22.7m
(2) 2. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince $17.9m
(1) 3. G-Force $17.5m
(3) 4. The Ugly Truth $13.2m
(-) 5. Aliens In The Attic $8.01m
(4) 6. Orphan $7.53m
(5) 7. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs $5.53m
(7) 8. The Hangover $5.19m
(8) 9. The Proposal $4.93m
(6) 10. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen $4.69m
In the UK: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE stays at #1 for its third week, no doubt helped by the summer holidaying kids. It made a very decent £2.9m at the weekend to give it a total UK haul of £40.5m haul – that's £3m more than the last two movies had made by now.
The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced G-FORCE toppled Potter in the US last week, but the CGI guinea pig movie had to settle for #2 here in the UK. The animation made a decent £2.48m (73% of that from 3D screenings.)
A surprise hit was COCO BEFORE CHANEL, a little-advertised fashion biopic starring Audrey Tataou that only opened on 80 screens but managed to make £432,000. That's better than Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage ever managed.
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 remake made a respectable £1.7m to take #3, despite mixed reviews Stateside -- no doubt because of the star-power involved. However, the bad reviews for Will Ferrell comedy-adventure LAND OF THE LOST scuppered any chance it might have had here, not helped by the fact it's a remake of a TV series nobody in Britain has even heard of. It made a frankly terrible £642,000, which should dent Ferrell's status as a bankable star. At #10, another Bollywood movie creeps into the chart, LOVE AAJ KAL.
UK TOP 10
(1) 1. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince £2.9m
(-) 2. G-Force £2.4m
(-) 3. The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 £1.7m
(2) 4. The Proposal £1.4m
(3) 5. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs £1.1m
(-) 6. Land Of The Lost £642k
(4) 7. Brüno £612k
(5) 8. The Hangover £517k
(-) 9. Coco avant Chanel £423k
(-) 10. Love Aaj Kal
UK RELEASES THIS WEEK
ADAM
Comedy-drama. Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Director: Max Mayer Starring: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher & Amy Irving
Tomatometer: 62% (Fresh; based on 66 reviews) "Hugh Dancy's elegant performance as a man with Asperger's Syndrome elevates Adam, an offbeat but touching romantic comedy."
ALIENS IN THE ATTIC
Animated sci-fi adventure. A group of kids must protect their vacation home from invading aliens.
Director: John Schultz Voices/Starring: Ashley Tisdale, Carter Jenkins, Austin Robert Butler, Ashley Boettcher & Henri Young
Tomatometer: 29% (Rotten; based on 34 reviews)
G.I JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA
Action-adventure. An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.
Director: Stephen Sommers Starring: Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Christopher Ecclestone, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Arnold Vosloo, Marlon Wayons, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje & Kevin J. O'Connor.
Tomatometer: 41% (Rotten; based on 59 reviews)
ORPHAN
Horror. A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Starring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett & Margo Martindale
Tomatometer: 52% (Fresh; based on 104 reviews) "While it has moments of dark humor and the requisite scares, Orphan fails to build on its interesting premise and degenerates into a formulaic, sleazy horror/thriller."
THE UGLY TRUTH
Rom-com. A romantically challenged morning show producer is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests...
Director: Robert Luketic Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter, Nick Searcy & Cheryl Hines
Tomatometer: 16% (Rotten; based on 130 reviews) "Despite the best efforts of Butler and Heigl, The Ugly Truth suffers from a weak script that relies on romantic comedy formula, with little charm or comedic payoff."
