- Review: John Wick 3 (C)
Scott Sycamore - Weekend Box Office
May 17 - 19 - Crowd Reports
Avengers: Endgame - Us
Box office comparisons - Review: Justice League (C)
Craig Younkin
Weekend Analysis (9/29 - 10/1)
By Lee Tistaert Published October 2, 2006
The real loser of the week was the Billy Bob Thornton/Jon Heder comedy, School for Scoundrels. Though MGM might not have been the ideal home for distribution, Scoundrels looked like a rip-off of Bad Santa and Bad News Bears, and lacked female appeal.
This weekend, Open Season and The Guardian opened about in line with expectations, though Todd Phillips? new comedy, School for Scoundrels, failed to bring in young audiences. Playing in 3,833 theaters, Sony delivered $23.6 million from the kids? pic Open Season, which is a notch above Paramount?s Barnyard ($15.8 million in 3,311 theaters) from this summer.
Disney also did well with pairing up Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher in the marine drama The Guardian, which grossed $18.0 million from 3,241 theaters, averaging a solid $5,556 per-screen. The debut marks a slight comeback for Costner, who has been hit and miss since the 90?s, and the opening is in line with Kutcher?s The Butterfly Effect, which grossed $17.1 million.
The real loser of the week was the Billy Bob Thornton/Jon Heder comedy, School for Scoundrels. The movie, directed by Old School?s Todd Phillips, failed to crack double digits for the weekend, coming in with just $8.6 million from 3,004 theaters. In contrast, the R-rated frat comedy, Old School, had turned in $17.5 million, while Phillips? Starsky & Hutch grossed $28.1 million.
Though MGM might not have been the ideal home for distribution, School for Scoundrels looked like a rip-off of Bad Santa and Bad News Bears, and also lacked female appeal. Even though Phillips has made a career out of ?guy movies,? the casting of specific male stars in each case had targeted a sufficient quantity of young women. Thornton?s Bad Santa did start out as more of a guy comedy at first (having come in with just $12.3 million), but the movie was sweeter than many had expected, which lead to a $60.1 million total. Scoundrels isn?t likely to stay around, and marks an awkward transition for Phillips after the $88.2 million domestic finish of Starsky & Hutch.
Disney also did well with pairing up Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher in the marine drama The Guardian, which grossed $18.0 million from 3,241 theaters, averaging a solid $5,556 per-screen. The debut marks a slight comeback for Costner, who has been hit and miss since the 90?s, and the opening is in line with Kutcher?s The Butterfly Effect, which grossed $17.1 million.
The real loser of the week was the Billy Bob Thornton/Jon Heder comedy, School for Scoundrels. The movie, directed by Old School?s Todd Phillips, failed to crack double digits for the weekend, coming in with just $8.6 million from 3,004 theaters. In contrast, the R-rated frat comedy, Old School, had turned in $17.5 million, while Phillips? Starsky & Hutch grossed $28.1 million.
Though MGM might not have been the ideal home for distribution, School for Scoundrels looked like a rip-off of Bad Santa and Bad News Bears, and also lacked female appeal. Even though Phillips has made a career out of ?guy movies,? the casting of specific male stars in each case had targeted a sufficient quantity of young women. Thornton?s Bad Santa did start out as more of a guy comedy at first (having come in with just $12.3 million), but the movie was sweeter than many had expected, which lead to a $60.1 million total. Scoundrels isn?t likely to stay around, and marks an awkward transition for Phillips after the $88.2 million domestic finish of Starsky & Hutch.
'School for Scoundrels' Articles
- Lee's School for Scoundrels review C+
September 15, 2006 The movie is indeed PG-13, which takes a lot of the fun away, but Phillips and Armstrong get chuckles out of the material where many would probably have failed. -- Lee Tistaert
