Matthew McConaughey portrays Ben "Finn" Finnegan, and Kate Hudson portrays Tess Finnegan in a scene from "Fool's Gold
Moviegoers fall for 'Fool's Gold'
Despite poor reviews, the adventure romance benefits from Valentine's Day and a wide release.
Warner Bros. got a jump on Valentine's Day with the Matthew McConaughey-Kate Hudson adventure romance "Fool's Gold," the weekend's box-office leader with an estimated $22 million in ticket sales.
Heavy marketing and appealing stars helped the movie, produced for about $65 million, open toward the upper end of expectations despite harsh reviews from critics.
"Love is in the air and it helped us hit box-office gold," said Jeff Goldstein, the studio's executive vice president of distribution. "This was the date movie for people in the mood for light entertainment."
The Martin Lawrence comedy "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," from Universal Pictures, opened at No. 2 with an estimated $17.1 million, matching pre-release expectations.
Walt Disney Co.'s 3-D movie "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" ranked third in its second weekend, taking in $10.5 million with a steep 66% drop.
Overall revenue for the weekend was down about 1% from the same period in 2007, according to data tracker Media by Numbers, as box-office results cooled off a bit after this year's hot start.
"Fool's Gold," which reunited its sexy, sunbaked stars for the first time since 2003's "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," and "Roscoe Jenkins" both averaged about $7,000 per theater.
But the Warner Bros. movie benefited from a wider release, with an additional 700-plus theaters. The audience for "Fool's Gold" was 62% female, as expected, and 57% was older than 25.
In CinemaScore surveys, patrons rated the movie a moderate "B-minus," but Goldstein said the calendar set the picture up for a solid run. With Valentine's Day falling on Thursday, the movie will compete for customers on three "date nights" this week and get a boost from the President's Day holiday weekend, he said.
"Roscoe Jenkins," produced for about $35 million, drew crowds that were fairly balanced between males and females, young and old, said Nikki Rocco, Universal's president of domestic distribution.
The audience was 32% non-African American, which Rocco took as an indication the movie was "playing beyond its core audience."
She said she was encouraged that business for "Roscoe Jenkins" jumped 51% from Friday to Saturday, versus 22% for "Fool's Gold," and that CinemaScore respondents graded it an "A-minus."
"Hannah Montana," produced for about $7 million, fell sharply after its $31.1-million opening weekend, a Super Bowl record. Still, it continued to benefit from the higher ticket prices exhibitors can charge for 3-D movies, in some cases $15 to $20.
The pop concert movie, whose star has a huge fan base among teenage and younger girls, averaged $15,000 per theater for the weekend -- by far the best in the top 10. It has grossed $53.4 million through 10 days of release.
Most of the 687 theaters showing the movie will keep it for a third week, said Chuck Viane, Disney's distribution president. "Hannah" was originally billed as a one-week-only event.
National Geographic Cinema Ventures, which released the rock concert movie "U2 3D" at 61 Imax theaters Jan. 23, now must wait until Feb. 22 for a broader nationwide expansion to hundreds of non-Imax, digital 3-D theaters. National Geographic originally planned a "national break" this Friday.
Many Imax theaters will switch to Paramount Pictures' fantasy "The Spiderwick Chronicles" on Thursday, when this week's new films come out, while most digital 3-D venues will hang on to "Hannah," so the U2 picture is likely to lose screens this week.
Even so, "U2 3D" is faring well with adult audiences. It averaged a solid $12,000 per theater over the weekend and has grossed $3.1 million to date.
Friday's other nationwide release, "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show," bombed with an estimated $507,000 at 962 theaters, or $527 per location.
The concert movie featuring up-and-coming comedians was produced for about $5 million and distributed by Time Warner Inc.'s Picturehouse.
Among the weekend's limited releases, Focus Features' comedy thriller "In Bruges" fared best, averaging $17,000 per theater at 28 locations.
Along with the family-oriented "The Spiderwick Chronicles," this week's major releases include 20th Century Fox's science-fiction thriller "Jumper," Disney's dance sequel "Step Up 2 the Streets" and Universal's romantic comedy "Definitely, Maybe."
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McConaughey, Hudson Find $22M in 'Gold'
"Fool's Gold" found real treasure as the romantic adventure starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson led the weekend box office with a $22 million debut.Martin Lawrence's family reunion comedy "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" opened at No. 2 with $17.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Disney's "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," the 3-D concert film that was the previous weekend's top movie, fell to third place with $10.5 million, a sharp drop from its $31.1 million opening. The movie has grossed $53.4 million after 10 days.
Released by Warner Bros., "Fool's Gold" came in a bit under the $23.8 million opening of McConaughey and Hudson's hit romance "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," which debuted over the same pre-Valentine's Day weekend in 2003.
With Valentine's Day on Thursday, the studio is counting on "Fool's Gold" to hold up well, said Jeff Goldstein, Warner vice president of distribution.
Critics hated "Fool's Gold" but audiences were eager to catch McConaughey and Hudson, who play a divorced couple reunited in a quest for 18th-century treasure lost at sea.
"A great marketing campaign, two appealing stars, and reviews be damned," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Heading into Valentine's week, it's sort of a natural."
Universal's "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" features Lawrence as a talk show host who reluctantly heads back to the family homestead for his parents' 50th anniversary.
This weekend's other new wide release, Picturehouse's "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland," tanked with just $507,000. Playing in 962 theaters, the documentary of Vaughn and other comics' standup tour averaged just $527 a cinema, compared to $7,043 in 3,125 locations for "Fool's Gold" and $7,175 in 2,387 theaters for "Roscoe Jenkins."
In narrower release, Paris Hilton's comedy "The Hottie and the Nottie" did even worse, bombing with around $25,000 in 111 theaters for an average of about $225, according to an estimate from Media By Numbers. Distributed by Regent Releasing, the movie stars Hilton as a bombshell who refuses to date until her ugly best friend finds love.
Focus Features' action comedy "In Bruges," with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hit men laying low in Belgium, opened solidly in limited release, pulling in $471,200 in 28 theaters to average $16,829.
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. "Fool's Gold," $22 million.
2. "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," $17.1 million.
3. "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," $10.5 million.
4. "The Eye," $6.6 million.
5. "Juno," $5.73 million.
6. "27 Dresses," $5.7 million.
7. "The Bucket List," $5.3 million.
8. "Rambo," $4.1 million.
9. "Meet the Spartans," $4.075 million.
10. "There Will Be Blood," $4.073 million.
'Fool's Gold' story unbelievable
The Plot:
Ahoy! Matthew McConaughey's pecs have earned yet another screen credit.
McConaughey stars as Finn, a lovable surfer dude who's looking for a bout of not-so-fool's gold. He's after the Queen's Dowry, a loot from 1715 with enough gold to fund a small city.
Kate Hudson plays Tess, Finn's newly ex-wife. As they struggle with their relationship, they find financial support in the form of multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Sutherland) and his Blackberry-toting, room-temperature-IQ boasting daughter, Gemma (Dziena).
The Good:
There are very pretty landscapes. For a second, I thought I'd stepped into a Bond film, with the exotic location, the crystal blue seas, and enough guns to make "Rambo" look tame.
Escapism at its best, it was wonderful to snuggle into my warm theater seat and pretend for 1 hour and 50 minutes that I was in Key West.
The Bad:
I really tried, but I couldn't believe in the story. Seriously, can one guy drag an anvil that's anchoring him to the ocean floor several feet before he finds a gun to shoot it off with? Remember, he's underwater.
Or how about later when he climbs up a flying Cessna with his bare hands? I'm sorry, but they're going to have to do more than that to get me to believe he's acquired monkey qualities. That and he needed a haircut. Maybe that was the monkey link ...
The Lowdown:
I didn't expect much from this movie. I even counted the minutes until I saw McConaughey's naked torso (15!). And while I actually enjoy Kate Hudson in chick flicks, there was no way I was going to connect with her character and feel sorry for her; she has sexy man-candy and is "forced" to live in Florida.
Just because a casting director slaps these two together again does not make another "How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days." Bad try, but nice abs.
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