Mon Dec 22, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

Winter Weather or Bar Reviews? 'Yes Man' Tops Lackluster Box Office

Jim Carrey and Will Smoth Both Miss Expectations

The question wasn’t whether they were naughty or nice, but whether the harsh weather or poor reviews kept people out of the theaters this weekend. According to numbers from Box Office Mojo, the repetitive Jim Carrey vehicle, Yes Man, bested Will Smith’s guilt-ridden drama Seven Pounds.  Yes Man topped the box office charts with $18,160,000, nearly $5 million less than expected while Smith’s holiday offering grabbed $16 million, about $3 million under the predictions.

The other new film, the family friendly The Tale of Despereaux did $10,507,000 worth of business and met the low end of expectations.

Coming in fourth is Fox’s remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still but poor word of mouth saw it dip 66.7% from its so-so opening weekend.  As a result, after two weeks it has grossed only $48,627,000 and may prove a costly disappointment in a year where Fox has had more misfires than hits.

Fifth place went to Four Christmases, the Warner comedy that took in an additional $7,745,000, letting it crack the $100 million mark. The other seasonal film, Nothing Like the Holidays, tumbled to 13th place and has an anemic $5,940,000 after two weeks.

Family fare did better with Bolt with $4,256,000 and possibly the last film to break $100 million so during the calendar year. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is slowing down, but with $172,332,000 after seven weeks, Paramount has to be delighted.

Twilight continues to attract besotted fans, taking in another $5.2 million, with the movie now immensely profitable with $158,461,000 to date.

More serious offerings are being met with indifference during these tough economic times.  While good for Academy Awards nods, they seem to attract on true cinephiles.
 

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