Oh. She may be weary.. them young girls they do get wearied wearing the same old shaggy dress, yeah yeah. But when she gets weary? Try a little tenderness.

It amazing that just writing that gets me. One of the great songs.

WE ARE THE FREAKS OF THE INDUSTRY

If, like about 99.95% of everyone following the WGA strike, you were following it from the sidelines, you may have trusted blogs to keep you in the loop of what was up. Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood became a hot spot – to which Finke basks in that attention – while other writers took to their blogs to help represent their perspectives. One of the blogs that got a lot of attention was Craig Mazin’s Artful Writer. It was well written, offered a great insider perspective, and became a great place to check in while the rest of the world got a taste of Hollywood’s hurry-up-and-wait. He dropped out of sight early March (likely to finish up work on Superhero Movie), but it was a good place to check daily until then.

Mazin’s career up to this point includes the last two Scary Movies, and before that Senseless (starrng David Spade and Marlon Wayons) and Rocketman (starring Harlan Williams). Mazin is – by all accounts – a working screenwriter. So the long gap was probably populated with a number of projects that went nowhere, as is the case with so many films. The Mazin most people know from his blog likely has no connection with the films he makes, or what that audience thinks of them. I can’t speak for authority on Mazin’s writings on his own work, but he is respected among other screenwriter bloggers. People like John Rogers.

If you ever want to know what it means – and likely what it takes – to be a working screenwriter in Hollywood, look at Craig Mazin’s career.

I GOT A PREDICTION FROM THE GOVERNMENT, THE OTHER DAY, I OPENED AND READ IT, AND SAID THEY WERE SUCKERS

21 is tracking really well. I bet that has something to do with it being PG-13. Me, if I want to see a film about nerds rick-rolling Vegas, I want the strip club scene. Why? Because I grew up in the 80’s, and all 1980’s comedies featured a gratuitious titty bar scene. But if you’re under 21, maybe you don’t have those same standards. I’ve seen Jeffery Wells say close to $30, I’ve also seem estimates around $15. So I’m going to split the dif.

As a guy who had to watch more friends than he liked because he dated girls who loved Friends, the Simon Pegg factor in Run Fatboy Run trumps whatever David Schwimmer-distaste (the director of the film) one might have, and – hell – it might make for a good date movie compromise. But since the film already cleaned house in England, and was pushed back about four months stateside, it’s likely Picturehouse will be happy with the low but respectable placing the film does, and since it’s only on 1000 screens, it likely won’t crack the top five, though will likely outperform the flailing Drillbit Taylor. While Stop Loss won’t be able to hide the fact that’s it’s kinda an iraq film. But pretty people might get it at least open.

The spoiler here is Mazin’s Superhero Movie. Obviously The Weinstein Company are mimicking the look and feel of their Scary Movie advertising, and that’s one of the bigger selling points, though this may also be soiled by the overload of the Epic/Date/Meet the Spartans suckiness, but also the fact that this doesn’t have the same currency, and some of this territory was covered by Epic Movie. On top of that, TWC hasn’t exactly been doing a good job selling their wares . But I’m guessing that 21 will fend it off. If it plays bigger, well, who really wins?

So let’s do this:
1. 21 – $23.4 Million
2. Horton Hears a Who – $14.9 Million
3. Superhero Movie – $14.7 Million
4. Meet the Cleveland Steamers– $9.7 Million
5. Stop Loss – $6.5 Million

If Shutter trumps Stop Loss, or Run Fatboy plays stronger, well there’s something to talk about. And you know me, back on Sunday morning to wrap it up.