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David Mumpower: The film's reported production budget is $60 million, but many of you have keyed upon the much more important aspect. The negative cost here is much pricier since they have been whoring Michael Cera and Jack Black out to anyone who will have them. Also, the commercials have been running non-stop, which is a mistake since the footage from the film is what sells it the least. I had commented a few months ago that Year One and Land of the Lost seemed to be aping History of the World Part I in all the wrong ways. With sub-par openings of $18.8 million and now $19.6 million, consumers have reinforced this idea. Both of these "comedies" look painful with the end result being that each one will require home video revenue to make a profit. Neither of them is leaving theaters in the black.

Well, that Captain Caveman movie isn't getting made anytime soon

Kim Hollis: Out of the "caveman comedy" stars, who is most and least affected by their middling results - Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Michael Cera or someone else?





Brandon Scott: Cera had a chance (a long shot in my opinion, since I don't forecast it for him) for stardom and it didn't translate since Year One had a middling result. He isn't charismatic enough to hold a mass audience, a poor mans/nerdier guy's version of Seth Rogen. Black is what he is...he'll never become a mega-star but he has a strong niche audience, and will always be valued in voice-over roles as well as the manic-hyper personalities he can play, so his career is set. I think Ferrell is the one most affected in a bad way. While I don't think he is out of luck by any stretch going forward, he really needs the right vehicle to have a hit. He can't just have a hit by showing up. He wants Anchorman 2 more than ever before now. I like Ferrell, but he can't play a four-year old forever, either. I think with Land of the Lost, he just made a bad choice to do the movie. It happens and I think he, similar to Black, is kind of what he is from a stardom standpoint.

Josh Spiegel: I'd say that Cera takes the biggest hit. Part of this is due to the fact that Will Ferrell and Jack Black, love them or hate them, are outsized personalities; when you see one of their comedies, you normally have a pretty good idea of what you're getting. Ferrell has the best track record (spotty as it is); Black has had more success as a loudmouth goofball as a supporting actor. Even though Cera arguably is similarly one-note (similar in that he really only has one-note), his awkwardness may not pan out. I'm not sure that he has a niche audience like Black or Ferrell (excluding his involvement in Arrested Development, which guarantees him a small niche audience - as long as he agrees to do a movie of the show); he'd have to find a film that could lead to Superbad-like success to push him back into the stratosphere.

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