Considering the unpredictability of Hollywood release schedules, it was presumptuous of us to assume, based on one week of data, that the film industry was in recession. But now it's been three weeks, and movie executives are becoming less and less arrogant with every failure.
Last week’s holdover, “21” trumped George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” at the box office this weekend with an estimated $15.1 million in ticket sales. “Leatherheads” opened to a soft $13.5 million, just edging out Jodie Foster-starrer "Nim's Island" for No. 2.
Nikki Rocco, Universal's president of domestic distribution, said she was "disappointed with the result" for "Leatherheads," a $58-million production … "What really upsets me is the level of overall business."
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… overall business was down from the same period in 2007 for the third straight weekend.
Editor
The movies coming out now essentially suck. Why bother going?
Saw Leatherheads over the weekend. It was "Jim" from The Office in 1925 clothing (his shtick is already old), George resurrecting his mischievous but oh-so-charming character from "O'Brother Where art Thou" and Renee's usual acting which consists of scrunching her mouth into a butt hole pout and looking sideways while smirking and using scratchy-voiced quick verbal barbs. Put her in retro clothing and this formula seems to be monstrously popular. The writing was terrible and the moments of comedy lame and predictable, like it was written by well meaning undergrads who just don't have a sophisticated grasp of funny beyond slap stick and limp fight scenes (I suggest reading this blog for help). The only person who seemed to think the movie was funny was the guy braying like a jackass next to me who we suspicioned was a plant since he was the only one laughing.