This past weekend saw the analysts' predictions dashed as The Game Plan became the first film to retain the top spot since Superbad back in August. It had widely been assumed by those analysts (including me) that the Ben Stiller vehicle The Heartbreak Kid would take the top spot. I knew that The Game Plan would do well for the family market, considering the lack of specific competition. Fortunately, it is a good movie, and one of the better family films to hit the screens of late.
The film that would be king finished in second place. The Heartbreak Kid failed to deliver; it was expected to finish over the $20 million mark and run away with the top spot. This will have to go down as a big disappointment for Stiller. Still, the movie is funny and worth seeing. I am hard pressed to see what kept audiences away. Whatever the case, this opening weekend probably does not hold much for the future. This will probably fade fast.
Two other films cracked the top ten this week. First up is The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, the fantasy movie that is based on the Susan Cooper novel. Of course, fans of the book would be hard pressed to call this an adaptation considering the laundry list of changes that it went through on its way to the screen. As for those, like me, who have never read the books, it would just be advisable to avoid the movie. It doesn't matter what your level of familiarity is as the movie is terribly boring. Judging by its opening weekend, the word got out early. This will surely disappear quickly and look to make up the difference on DVD. The other new film is Feel the Noise, which I did not think would make much of a splash considering the low visibility of the title. I did not see it, so I cannot say how good it is one way or the other.
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