Semi-Pro Dribbled To The Top At Box Office

[comedyfreak]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Will Ferrell's basketball comedy "Semi-Pro" dribbled to the top of the weekend box office, but it fell short of his previous blockbuster openings in the sports spoof genre, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The New Line Cinema film, starring Ferrell as the owner of a fictional basketball franchise, grossed $15.3 million in its weekend debut. That was lackluster compared to Ferrell's 2006 NASCAR parody "Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which opened at $47 million, and last year's figure skating comedy "Blades of Glory," which earned $33 million in its first weekend.

Box office analysts said "Semi-Pro" likely suffered because it was released during a normally slow season and was rated R, while "Talledega Nights" and "Blades of Glory" were rated PG-13.

"Will Ferrell is always a draw and audiences love him. But this particular weekend is not quite as strong as his earlier efforts," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC.


New Line representatives declined to comment. Last week, media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. (TWX) announced that New Line would be merged with its Warner Bros. Entertainment studio to cut costs and improve profitability.

Last weekend's top film, the Sony Pictures terrorism thriller "Vantage Point," dropped to second place with $13 million in ticket sales, bringing its two-week domestic total to $41 million.

Sony's new release "The Other Boleyn Girl" performed better than expected, opening at No. 4 with $8.3 million at 1,166 theaters. Its $7,118 per theater average outdistanced other movies in the marketplace.

The weekend's other opening, the Summit Entertainment fantasy romantic comedy "Penelope," debuted in eighth place with $4 million.

Box office revenues overall were down for the third straight week. The top 12 movies grossed $81 million, down 10 percent from last weekend and 25 percent from the same weekend in 2007.

Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)
This Wk Last Wk Title Dist. Weekend Gross Cumulative
Gross Rlse
Wks # of
Theaters
1 - Semi-Pro New Line Cinema $15,200,000 $15,200,000 1 3121
2 1 Vantage Point Sony Pictures Releasing $13,000,000 $41,005,000 2 3150
3 2 The Spiderwick Chronicles Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies $8,752,000 $55,081,000 3 3654
4 - The Other Boleyn Girl Sony Pictures Releasing, Focus Features $8,300,000 $8,300,000 1 1166
5 3 Jumper 20th Century Fox Distribution $7,600,000 $66,823,000 3 3128
6 4 Step Up 2 the Streets Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $5,714,000 $48,593,000 3 2528
7 5 Fool's Gold Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $4,690,000 $59,073,000 4 2845
8 - Penelope Summit Entertainment, LLC $4,006,000 $4,006,000 1 1196
9 12 No Country for Old Men Paramount Vantage, Miramax Films $4,005,000 $69,570,000 17 2037
10 8 Juno Fox Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Fox International $3,350,000 $135,135,000 13 1631
11 6 Definitely, Maybe Universal Pictures $3,251,000 $26,519,000 3 2189
12 7 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Universal Pictures Distribution $2,702,000 $39,184,000 4 1393

[Cactus Jack]

It was still HILARIOUS nonetheless

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by TheMuppetFromtheFutu

It was still HILARIOUS nonetheless

I'm pretty surprised that it didn't score better at the box office. I still want to see this.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I'm pretty surprised that it didn't score better at the box office. I still want to see this.

Ditto, and it rules IMO, might be my 2nd fav Ferrell movie after Anchorman, or 4th, cnat forget Old School and Zoolander!