How to Make Cash: Make ‘Em Laugh

1248968851_8It’s not surprising the Adam Sandler/Judd Apatow comedy Funny People came in on top at the box office this weekend. What’s surprising is how little it made — $23.4 million doesn’t seem like a huge number for Adam Sandler, but then again, this isn’t his typical comedy (thank goodness).

Here’s the top five at the box office this weekend:

1. NEW! Funny People (Universal) $23.4 mil; 3,008 theaters; $7,793 PT
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.) – $17.7 mil; 4,393 theaters; $4,029 PT $255.4 mil cume
3. G-Force (Buena Vista) – $17 mil; 3,697 theaters; $4,614 PT; $66.4 mil cume
4. The Ugly Truth (Sony) – $13 mil; 2,882 theaters; $4,511 PT; $54.4 mil cume
5. NEW! Aliens in the Attic (Fox) – $7.8 mil; 3,106 theaters; $2,511 PT

New kid flick Aliens in the Attic sort of fell by the wayside, too, but there probably wasn’t as much room for it with G-Force already out.

This coming weekend we’ve got an eclectic trio of films, starting with what looks to be a culinary delight, Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as the iconic chef Julia Child and Amy Adams as real-life writer Julie Powell, who decides to cook and blog her way through Child’s famous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

There’s also A Perfect Getaway, a thriller about a couple who goes vacationing on an extremely remote Hawaiian island (are there any left?) and run into some trouble with others already there. And finally there’s G.I. Joe, the last big action blockbuster of the summer. Looks like a serviceable actioner, but what I’m really looking forward to seeing Channing Tatum’s abs again. I know, I can be shallow when it comes to my favorite celebrity pretty people. My money? Julie and Julia.