Walk Hard Goes Limp, National Treasure Proves Its Mettle

Sun., Dec. 23, 2007 2:32 PM PST by Joal Ryan

Judd Apatow's career will survive. John C. Reilly's career will survive. As for Dewey Cox's...

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the new Judd Apatow-John C. Reilly comedy about the life and times of a machete-wielding Johnny Cash type, seemed sure to die a quick death after selling only $4.1 million worth of opening-weekend tickets, per studio estimates compiled Sunday by Exhibitor Relations.

Nicolas Cage, meanwhile, enjoyed his second big hit of the year and, if estimates hold, the biggest box-office weekend of his career, with National Treasure: Book of Secrets hauling in $45.5 million to lead the holiday competition.

As for Walk Hard...

It was cowritten and produced by the red-hot Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad). It was fronted by the reliable Reilly (Chicago, Talledega Nights). It was heavily promoted, right down to a seven-date, Reilly-fronted Dewey Cox tour.

And it was...ignored.

"It is horrible," Exhibitor Relations' Jeff Bock said Sunday, agreeing that the film's eighth-place debut and $1,547 per-screen average was just not good. "Parody is a tough sell, but even The Comebacks opened stronger than this one."

And not only The Comebacks. Poorly reviewed, unheralded, un-Apatow 2007 comedies from Good Luck Chuck to Balls of Fury also posted bigger, better opening weekends. Walk Hard was hit hard, Bock theorized, by a couple of factors: an older-skewing, Walk the Line-referencing movie that didn't jibe with Apatow's younger-skewing Knocked Up crowd; and an ad campaign built around a character actor taking his first crack as a Hollywood headliner.

"John C. Reilly is probably one of the best sidekicks in Hollywood," Bock said. "But there's a big difference in being a prime-time player."

Cage, meanwhile, proved he can still move the merchandise, provided he steers clear of Wicker Man bear suits. Book of Secrets, the sequel to 2004's original National Treasure, comes 10 months after Ghost Rider reestablished Cage's good box-office name.

Elsewhere, Will Smith added to his considerable legend with another $34.2 million for I Am Legend (second place). After two weekends, the movie stands at $137.5 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks (third place, $29 million; $84.9 million overall) held strong—stronger, in fact, than Smith's hit, with its business down "only" 35 percent from last weekend. (I Am Legend's dropped 56 percent.)

Among the other major releases, the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp musical Sweeney Todd (fifth place) pulled in a respectable $9.4 million at 1,249 theaters. The political comedy Charlie Wilson's War ($9.6 million at 2,575 theaters) and the romantic comedy P.S. I Love You ($6.5 million at 2,454 theaters), which debuted in fourth and sixth place, respectively, did as expected—not a whole lot, despite Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts lending their names to Charlie Wilson's and Hilary Swank lending hers to P.S.

Judging by its receipts, Jamie Lynn Spears isn't the only one checking out Juno these days. In its third weekend, the teen-pregnancy comedy moved into the top 10 ($3.4 million; $6.4 million overall), despite playing at only 264 theaters.

Among likely Oscar contenders, No Country for Old Men ($1.7 million; $36.7 million overall) dialed back its theater count and tumbled out of the top 10, while Atonement ($2 million; $5.8 million overall) added screens but still fell from the big 10.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $45.5 million

2. I Am Legend, $34.2 million

3. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $29 million

4. Charlie Wilson's War, $9.6 million

5. Sweeney Todd, $9.4 million

6. P.S. I Love You, $6.5 million

7. Enchanted, $4.2 million

8. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, $4.1 million

9. The Golden Compass, $4 million

10. Juno, $3.4 million