PART THREE
Adult Comedies Reign.....
While it seemed the year was going to the major blockbusters, there was a whole bunch of adult comedies that hit new heights this year, especially if it carried the R rating....
The first major adult comedy of the summer ended up being the summers' biggest sleeper. Bridesmaids was in the Top 12 for 11 weeks, the longest run on the list since Avatar in 2009. Opening to a pretty strong $26.2 million (second place to Thor), the film showed amazing strength, and is still running with $168.6 million, an amazing weekend to final run multiplier of 6.4 (which is rare for a movie and the largest multiplier since How To Train Your Dragon and Avatar's multipliers of 5.1 and 8.9). Its' domestic number places it in the Top 10 domestically and putting it ahead of other hit films such as X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, Kung Fu Panda 2, and last years' Due Date and Meet The Parents Threequel. Produced for just $32 million, the film is basically one of the biggest hits of the year.
Another one of the biggest hits of the year made America have Hangover fever. The Hangover: Part II had a rabid fanbase with the highest-grossing memorial day weekend ever at $85.9 million over the three-day weekend ($109 million in four), and practically spitting at the somewhat mousy Kung Fu Panda 2, which grossed just over half of that films' four-day total in the same weekend. Altogether, Part II has grossed $254 million domestically, which isn't as strong as the first Hangover, that flick had legs similar to Bridesmaids and finished with $277 million two years ago. However, it has become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy worldwide, with $581 million.
Next up was Cameron Diaz's Bad Teacher, which earned a strong $31 million on its' opening. And despite its' negative response (C+ CinemaScore grade), it sits at $99 million and looks to try and cross the $100 million mark before its' done. That's a pretty good number in the face of Cars 2 (which earned twice its' opening on its' debut on the same weekend). It also is one of the highest-grossing movies in Diaz's career.
One of the major busts of the adult movie season was Larry Crowne. The Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts flick opened to a disappointing $16 million over the four-day 4th of July Weekend, and crashed to a $35.6 million finish. Although it wasn't a total disaster as it was produced for just $30 million, it was just over half of the duos' last flick Charlie Wilson's War, which grossed $67 million back in 2008.
If Teachers, bridesmaids, and the wolfpack weren't enough, audiences came out in huge numbers for Horrible Bosses. The employees vs. bosses flick had a $28.3 million opening in second place and to date has a strong $115.6 million against a $35 million budget. And despite competition from other flicks and seemingly low buzz, it was still able to be one of the biggest surprises this summer and year.
On the other hand, Friends with Benefits was certainly not No Strings Attached. The Justin Timberlake-Mila Kunis flick opened on the low end with a $18.6 million third place start. It currently has $55.6 million so far, which is half of the years' other R-rated comedies and $15 million behind Strings.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. has shown incredible strength over the late summer months. The Steve Carell romance flick opened to $19.1 million and fifth place and has seen a weekend to run multiplier of 4.0, with a total of $76.2 million in five weeks of release, and heading for past $80 million.
The Change-Up was the summer's other major adult comedy bust. Despite a lot of promotion, the film opened to a disappointing $13.5 million and only has earned $36.1 million in one month. The Hangover-wanna be has been on the downfall of both major stars (Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds, who the latter had another disappointment earlier in the summer with Green Lantern).
Finally, although it doesn't technically count, Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris showed the strongest legs for a limited release. After expanding to wide release in June, it earned only a so-so $5.8 million, but adding in the expansion numbers from limited release, its' number is a solid $53 million in three months. This gives Allen his highest-grossing flick yet.
