Adam Sandler has proved that he’s the king of the US box office, weathering awful – and awfully accurate – reviews for fake gay marriage comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry to enjoy another happy honeymoon at the top of the charts.
The comedy, which co-stars Hitch’s Kevin James and Jessica Biel, debuted in the number one spot with $34.7 million, besting Harry Potter’s latest outing (The Order Of The Phoenix), which dropped to second place and took in $32.2 million. Let’s wait and see how Chuck & Larry fares once the Sandler hardcore have seen it, and the word of mouth starts spreading…
The other big event happening this weekend was of course the release of the final Harry Potter Tome, The Deathly Hallows. That likely sliced into the takings for both Harry’s fifth film and Hairspray, aimed at a family audience. Yet despite opening third, the new musical based on the stage show and John Waters’ ‘80s original managed the highest opening of a musical movie to date with $27.8 million.
All the swapping about meant that those Transformers had to roll out down to fourth place, though Optimus and co have just become Michael Bay’s highest grossing film in the US, making $20.1 million this weekend and $263 overall. That sound you can hear is Bay having the huge poster celebrating the event made up for his office.
Ratatouille, meanwhile, took a little hit from Hairspray’s canister and slid down to fifth place. But don’t worry about Remy – he’s still got $165 million in the bank to date. Also enjoying some good news is John McClane, as Die Hard 4.0 ran off with $7.3 million at the weekend, pushing the movie past its $110 million budget to a current total of $116 million.
After showing some possible legs last weekend, marriage comedy License To Wed took a stumble and a tumble down to seventh, making $3.7 million to add to a total of $38 million, while 1408 dropped two places to eighth, with $2.6 million.
Finally, at the bottom of the charts, Evan Almighty managed the less-than-miraculous $2.4 million (bringing its total to $93.4 million, way off its alleged $175 million budget), while Knocked Up took another victory lap, staying in the top 10 for an eighth week, while knocking its full US earnings up to $143 million.
