Weekend Box Office - Yes Man Pays Off

By Scott Gwin: 2008-12-21 21:44:10

Once upon a time Will Smith could draw a $20 million opening without batting an eye. That was before he started choosing projects with questionable audience appeal. Seven Pounds had arguably some of the vaguest, most bewildering marketing of any Will Smith movie, pushing the actor's bankability to the breaking point. And as was bound to happen, this weekend it finally snapped.

Seven Pounds made only $16 million this weekend, one of the worst-ever debuts for a Will Smith headliner and the lowest since Ali in 2001. While it's a major hit for Smith this time around, it hardly spells an end to his general cash credibility. No matter how crappy Bad Boys 3 might someday be, you can bet it would still make $50 million opening weekend. Slap a clip of Smith shouting "Aw, heeeelllll no!" in a trailer and you have box office gold. Stick him in a car with a weepy Rosario Dawson. Pffft.

Number one Yes Man, which took in $18 million, was no surprise. Checking Jim Carrey's record you can pretty much expect around $15 million openings where popular childrens stories are involved. If Carrey is still earning his usual salary, this weekend just barely covered his pay check.

The Tale of Despereaux swashbuckled its way into third place, taking in only $10 million. That slim amount was just enough to beat out The Day The Earth Stood Still which took a massive 66% drop from last weekend. Thanks to foreign ticket sales Earth will likely end up turning a profit for Fox, but with any luck the mediocre sales will turn the studio off of any another painful remakes.

Awards sugar-baby Slumdog Millionaire expanded to almost 600 theaters and jumped to eighth place. The movie earned around $8 million in small release and now that it seems like the early favorite for best movie of the year at the Oscars expect that number to get even higher.