Will Ferrell Movie Disappoints At Box Office With $15M

LOS ANGELES — 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. 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.

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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.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Semi-Pro," $15.3 million.

2. "Vantage Point," $13 million.

3. "Spiderwick Chronicles," $8.8 million.

4. "The Other Boleyn Girl," $8.3 million

5. "Jumper," $7.6 million.

6. "Step Up 2 The Streets," $5.7 million.

7. "Fool's Gold," $4.7 million.

8. "Penelope," $4 million.

9. "No Country For Old Men," $4 million.

10. "Juno," $3.4 million.

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Vivendi Universal; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Comments

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Ferrell does films like this so he can finance his dream project, a remake of Fletch Lives.

Since this one was disappointing, we'll have to wait a few more years....

[liberalsrheros]

ferrell is funny and he has helped progressive organizations raise money. i respect him alot more than the no accomplishment haters pecking out stupid posts about how refined their senses of humor are.

i say more cow bell!

[jukesgrrl]

Perhaps the "office analysts" have proved that the people who made previous Ferrell movies such big hits are between the ages of 14 and 18. That speaks volumes in itself.

[GQTaste]

I'd rather have my balls pricked w/ ice picks than watch a Will Ferrell film. Same w/ Sandler. These dudes have no range and are one trick ponies. The guy at the local Deney's is funnier than these two clowns.

[TakLoufer]

Right on, brother!

The only people "disappointed" by this take at the b.o. are the studio wonks stupid enough to greenlight this project in the first place. As that viral video proved, a little baby girl spouting purported obscenities outacted Ferrell. Give him the heave ho already.

[hope4theflowers]

Sandler was unexpectedly good in Reign Over Me...very good in fact. It was like he grew up..for a litle while..i wonder if it will last.And we multi-brain celled animals appreciate the effort to entertain us as much as the one celled animals do all the crap hollywood throws at them.

[aristippe]

I'm just too old for his shtick

[BigJake]

Good call. The previews were so bad that I wouldn't have bothered even if admission had been free.

[rini]

Maybe he didn't give enough autographs?

[Libsrule]

Stewie from Family Guy said it best when after watching Will in Bewitched ran out of the house, smuggled himself aboard a jet. flew to Hollywood, found Will's house, got a ladder, climbed the ladder and rang Will's doorbell and when Will answered, Stewie knocked his ass to the ground and said to Will

"YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!!!" (or words to that effect.

Will is a one trick pony that should have been put out to pasture three movies ago. After his first movie I never bothered again because they are all the same character in a different uniform.

Go home Will, you're rich, quit while you're only starting to fall behind and not when you are a subject of "Where are they now?".

[leftcoastindy]

Don't bet the house,dude. Ferrell is a VERY funny guy.

I haven't heard anyone ask 'where is Sandler now', and he's had a couple of really bad movies.

[leftcoastindy]

I can't think of anything funnier than Ferrel in 'Wedding Crashers'.

[LeftVetPatriot]

What a sheltered life you must lead.

[jglatzer]

you should think harder...that movie sucks giant cow balls. like the cow balls from fear factor. the only funny thing ferrell every did was "more cowbell" and a few skits on snl. the rest were absolute garbage.

[tinkaboutit]

"Shocking" presumes it matters.

[crashingtiger]

Hopefully this will put an end to Will Ferrell's run of "goofy sports movies". Repeating the same thing over and again is not interesting or funny, it's just boring.

[mediamarv]

If I see Kate300 on this site again, I'm calling Arianna.

[robotfog]

I think Will has a special knack for humor, but he's just not utilizing it in the best way. These movies are the same over and over. I just wait to see them by accident on TV.

I think Ferrell would do well to take smaller roles in well written movies.

[loki]

Why is this so shocking. Just like Adam Sandler, he is the same thing over and over and over again.

3 times its funny, after that, it slips into annoying.

[pizzmoe]

Is he funny?

[muffinmix]

ya. hes hilarious.

but hes gotta be more selective. movies like anchorman and elf have been amazing.

[STParker]

I thought even anchorman was overrated. Elf was by far his funniest movie. He has not been very funny since SNL.

[jglatzer]

actually elf was a pretty good movie. nice family comedy. thats the only movie i like by him.

[deckard70]

The movie only opened at #1? That is certainly a flop. Everyone was expected it to open at #0, or possible negative 1. Only first place, how terrible.