Opening nearly one year after their latest opus, Date Movie, writer/director duo Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg have opened their next movie. They have turned their eye from the romantic comedy genre and decided to "satirize" the epic films that have been released over the past few years. In doing so, they succeeded at doing something their last movie failed to do, open at number one. Despite the fact that it actually took in less money than the last outing, Epic Movie's take proved to be more than enough to fend off the rest of the field.
The number two movie this week is also a newcomer to the multiplex. Joe Carnahan's latest film is a Technicolor ballet of bullets. It opened with a decent $14 million plus take. I saw the film and I enjoyed it, despite the serious flaws in character and story flow. It was a fun exercise in excess with style-filled acting as a substitute for substance. I suspect it will end up with a decent run, but will discover most of its success on DVD. The Queen is also doing well in its wide expansion coming on the heels of its Golden Globe win and Oscar nominations. The Departed followed suit moving back into 1,000+ theaters, narrowly missing the top ten, finishing at number 11.
There was one other new release to crack the top ten. The Jennifer Garner flick Catch and Release found itself in a battle, which it ultimately lost, for fourth place with Stomp the Yard. The fight was a close one, with a mere $30,000 separating the two. I have not seen either of these yet, though it does mark Stomp's fall from the top spot, a place it held for two weeks.
One other new film entered wide release this weekend, and it is withering on the vine. The werewolf movie Blood & Chocolate opened to poor reviews and came in a disappointing 15th. This is a film that was marketed on the fact that its producers come from the Underworld franchise, but it turns out it was not enough to draw anyone from the lines for Epic Movie.
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