US Box Office: Jim Carrey got an affirmative result at the weekend boxoffice in North America with his comedy “Yes Man,” which triumphed over another new entry, Will Smith’s drama “Seven Pounds,” according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
“Yes Man” earned $18.2 million during the three days beginning on Friday, while “Seven Pounds” followed with $16 million. All movies, however, took a hit from the brutal weather on the East Coast and parts of the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.
The mouse cartoon “The Tale of Despereaux” opened at No. 3 with $10.5 million. Last weekend’s champion, the sci-fi remake “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” fell to No. 4 with $10.2 million.
Ticket sales in key markets such as New York, Boston and Detroit dwindled as a winter storm blanketed the areas with snow and ice.
“It was horrific,” said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros., which released “Yes Man.”
Boston, for example, is a top-10 market, but it plunged to the lower reaches of the top 25 on Friday, studio executives said.
Fellman said the bad weather knocked about $2.5 million off the total for “Yes Man,” but he hoped to make the money back in subsequent weeks.
Carrey plays a bank officer stuck in a personal and professional rut. After he attends a self-help seminar, he must say “yes” to all ideas and requests, leading to both comic and dramatic pitfalls.
Critics were mildly negative on the movie, but largely hostile toward “Seven Pounds,” a decidedly downbeat entry from Smith, who is arguably the biggest movie star in the world.
He plays a despondent man who decides to redeem himself by committing random acts of kindness before making the ultimate sacrifice.
Columbia Pictures, the film’s Sony Corp-owned distributor, said it had wanted an opening in the $20 million range, but was hopeful of regaining traction.
“The Tale of Despereaux,” based on an award-winning children’s book, revolves around a heroic mouse who falls in love with a human princess. The film was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co’s NBC Universal.
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. [thr]
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