Nobody Loves Me
 It’s True
 Not Like
 You Do
1
 American Gangster $46,344,000 $15,174 $46,344,000
2
 Bee Movie $39,100,000 $9,954 $39,100,000
3
 Saw IV $11,010,000 (-65.3%) $3,459 $51,060,000
4
 Dan in Real Life $8,125,000 (-31.2%) $4,220 $22,950,000
5
 30 Days of Night $4,000,000 (-41.7%) $1,522 $34,229,000
6
 The Game Plan $3,853,000 (-37.1%) $1,354 $81,957,000
7
 Martian Child $3,650,000 $1,806 $3,650,000
8
 Michael Clayton $2,900,000 (-41.1%) $1,376 $33,198,000
9
 Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married $2,730,000 (-51.6%) $1,945 $51,185,000
10
 Gone Baby Gone $2,400,000 (-37.1%) $1,484 $14,948,000


America loves gangsters! More than Seinfeld! At least this week! After a troubled production history that once had Denzel Washington starring against Benicio Del Toro for Antoine Fuqua, Russell Crowe stepped in for Del Toro, and Ridley Scott for Fuqua, and then nine months later American Gangster was born. I’d call that a trade up. It’s also a big fat hit. Such is good for Scott, who’s coming off the misfires of both Kingdom of Heaven – which is great in the director’s cut, not so much the theatrical – and A Good Year. Cases can be made for both fiscally (Kingdom fared better internationally… Year… was… cheap? Ish?), but Gangster should now easily clear the nine digit mark, and could get to $150 or so, which makes this a win for everyone, and may help Scott get to Blood Meridian. Also, possibly, an Oscar. Then again, though most of the word has been positive, a lot of people are harping that it’s a good not great film. Fair enough, though it’s not as if there’s a surplus of good films these days. Crowe’s also been pretty hit or miss lately, so again, this is good for his stock, and may help people forget how he threw a phone at some dude. Though if there was a definite draw it was likely Denzel doing some gangster shit. Because America loves gangsters.

The computer animated movie is no longer fresh or new, and so a new CGI film can’t get by on the look alone. Such may explain why the new Jerry Seinfeld animated film did a little less than $40 million. Then again, Seinfeld has been off the air for so long that the return of one of television’s most popular entertainers seemed to promise slightly better dividends. It’s not a bad number at all, but nothing like what Monsters, Inc. did in 2001 ($62 Mil) in the same time frame. As big a show as Seinfeld was, I can imagine the parents who grew up watching it may have not been entirely comfortable with taking their kids to it. If they care about what they’re kids watch, that is. Jerry Seinfeld isn’t a theatrical name and this doesn’t feel like much of a victory, though Dreamworks and Paramount should make more than a a couple nickels of it by the time it hits DVD.

Saw IV folded, took the two-thirds hit. Should get over sixty, maybe seventy. Doesn’t matter, it’s already made its money back. Nothing’s going to stop the sequels. Whereas Dan in Real Life took a near one-third hit. Put ‘em together and you’ve almost got absolute zero. The film hopefully didn’t cost too much, if so, then it could be modestly profitable. But its hold is not the worst thing ever. But $40 Million seems out of reach, Hall and Oates are out of touch, and I’m out of time. But I’m out of my head when you’re not around.

30 Days of Night and The Game Plan (which has made 80 million “Fuck you, good taste, I wanna watch ‘Ow My Balls’” dollars) did better than Martian Child, which I guess came out. I have no empirical evidence of its existence, and I’m pretty sure neither does New Line. And neither will most people come two weeks when the rest of the world will pretend it never happened. Like Keyser Soze, or some shit. Gone Baby Gone is done baby, done, while Michael Clayton and Why Did I get Married are finishing out their runs.

Next weekend offers Fred Claus and a lecture on the cost of war. I got the Cliff Notes version of it last night. I guess this war is bad, and was done for the wrong reasons. Wonder if P2 will outperform it?