New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Daron Aldridge: For career boost, it's a toss up between Carell and Johnson. Most TV ads that I saw prominently featured Carell and Johnson. After Evan Almighty, Carell needed something to show he could open a movie as an above the title star. Get Smart appears to prove that. Similarly, Johnson builds on his persona of being more comedy than action and audiences like that side of him. The biggest draw is probably Anne Hathaway. She already has a decent track record, so it solidifies her current drawing power, plus I would argue that the 40% under 25 reported by Warner Brothers is likely due to Hathaway's presence.

Jason Lee: Hathaway and Johnson are solid draws in their respective demographics on their own. I think Carell is the one who had the most to prove after the disaster that was Evan Almighty

James D. Ruccio: I think it's a tie between all three although I can't speak to Hathaway as I can't say I've seen much of her work. I think it helps Carell in that continues to show he can pick projects that either stretch his resume or as it is in this case solidify his particular type of character. I'm most happy about Johnson, though. I was somewhat shocked that Scorpion King didn't do better and absolutely propel him into Ah-nuld circa early '80s. I worried as I watched him search for scripts and projects that would allow him to tap into his natural talents and charms. So it's nice to see what I suspect is a genuinely nice, talented, charming actor find some success.

Now, I have to go back into my room, practice arching my eyebrow and come up with pithy lines about my made up enemies...

Ew. Stinky cheese.

Kim Hollis: The Love Guru earned only $14 million against a budget of $62 million. Does this place it in contention for the Bomb of the Year?

Pete Kilmer: Oh, yeah. And with all the stories that have comes out over the last two weeks about Mike Myers...until and unless he gets Austin Powers 4 going, this is the last time he gets a movie greenlit with him as lead.

Dan Krovich: It's not a Speed Racer level bomb, but it's definitely the second clear cut bomb of the summer.

Joel Corcoran: I disagree with Dan - I think it's THE bomb of the summer. Speed Racer opened to $18.6 million at the beginning of May, when the summer movie season was just beginning to heat up (no pun intended). And even with its lackluster performance, it should still reach the break-even point before DVD sales kick in. But Love Guru ... that's an entirely different story. I think we're looking at a bomb on the order of Stealth or The Core.





Max Braden: Two weeks ago we were talking about how Adam Sandler is still going strong. Myers actually has the stronger box office record of the two SNL alums. He should have had a his fan base from the Austin Powers series to support him, and theoretically open as big as Zohan did. He could argue that there was competition from the Sandler and Carell comedies, but in another universe he should have been able to beat both. That's a huge bomb.

Shane Jenkins: I have to side with Dan on this. Love Guru is a huge disappointment on every level. But with that budget, it will make back half its production cost in domestic theaters, and will attract plenty of suckers when it's released on DVD. Speed Racer's budget was double Guru's and will make roughly the same amount of money domestically. Plus I'm pretty sure Speed spent considerably more on advertising. I'm certainly no Guru fan, but I think Speed Racer easily wears that dubious crown.

Continued:       1       2       3