If there is one simple way to make money these days, it's financing a comedy where
Eddie Murphy will have to play numerous roles and wear a hideous fat suit. His latest movie
Norbit raked in $34.2 million over last weekend, Murphy's highest lead number since
The Nutty Proffessor II: The Klumps, 7 years ago. People just can't get enough of the guy in this type of movie. Again for those keeping track, it's yet ANOTHER critically panned movie that has topped the box office charts and for the fourth weekend in a row, the amount of people going to the movies is down from the same weekend last year, 7% overall.
Hannibal Rising which many were anticipating coming out on top over the weekend, could only manage second place. This prequel to the previous 3 Hannibal movies grossed just over $13 million, around half of
Red Dragon's 2002 gross and way off
Hannibal's 2001 taking of $58 million on it's opening weekend. I personally, am not at all surprised by this. Did we ever want to see Hannibal Lecter's origins? Were we crying out for this film? And where the hell was
Anthony Hopkins? You don't have a Hannibal movie without him!!! The rest of the box office is taken up by movies on at least their second weekend.
The Messengers suffered the biggest drop (around 50%) and
Night at the Museum's still raking in the cash! Please, that movie has made far more money than it ever deserved!
USA Weekend Box-Office Summary
9 February 2007 Rank Title Weekend Gross 1. Norbit (2007) $34.2M $34.2M 2. Hannibal Rising (2007) $13.1M $13.1M 3. Because I Said So (2007) $9.22M $25.8M 4. The Messengers (2007) $7.22M $24.7M 5. Night at the Museum (2006) $5.75M $232M 6. Epic Movie (2007) $4.57M $35.6M 7. Smokin' Aces (2007) $4.11M $31.2M 8. Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) $3.58M $26.6M 9. Dreamgirls (2006) $2.98M $97M 10. The Queen (2006) $2.37M $48.9M