Showbiz411

Pixar/Disney’s “Brave” was a big hit over the weekend, bringing in $66 million. Audiences loved it. A bunch of kids went from a barbeque I was at to see a 4pm show, and were already talking about seeing it again. There were doubters, but a strong female lead character blazed the trail. Meanwhile, both the Tom Cruise “Rock of Ages” and Adam Sandler “That’s My Boy” continued to die slow deaths. They’re now both at $28 million total with no foreign interest really. Each one took in $8 million for the entire weekend. Another actor who should be drawing an audience, Steve Carell, did very poorly as well.  His “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” did a lowly $3.8 million even in semi-full release. That movie has no traction; it’s over. It’s also a studied bad imitation of a great movie from years ago called “Last Night.” Carell without “The Office” is not soaring. “The Office” is dying without him. I’m just saying…Meanwhile, Woody Allen did just fine with “To Rome with Love” in limited release. In 5 theaters it did a total of $379,000. Woody’s fans are going to make a big effort here, and they’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.