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The relatively astonishing success of Baby Mama this weekend -- it earned $18.3 million Friday through Sunday, which is a pretty shocking number considering how poorly almost every film has been performing this year -- says one thing to me: Women are being underserved at the multiplex, and will come out for anything that hints at being about their lives. No matter how crappy that movie is. Now, I am not one to put labels on movies, and I hate the suggestion that there are certain kinds of movies I must love, and certain kinds I must not, merely because of my gender. But there's no question that there is a dearth of women over 35 on-screen telling stories about themselves. And of course it turns out that Baby Mama is as phony as can be about real women's lives -- it was written and directed by a man, which doesn't have to be to the detriment of a movie about women, but usually is. As soon as someone smart realizes that there's money to be made -- way bigger money than $18 million on opening weekend -- catering to female moviegoers in a way that doesn't insult them or minimize the issue that concern them, well, that's when we'll start seeing movies like Baby Mama that don't suck. "Boy" movies dominated the rest of the weekend, as they usually do. Stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay was No. 2, earning $14.6 million, and the charming martial arts fantasy The Forbidden Kingdom -- which plenty girls like too -- was No. 3 with $11.2 million. Close behind was boy-with-a-broken-heart comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall with $11 million. (This girl sees this one as sneakily anti-boy, but I guess the boys themselves don't agree.) It's not till the No. 5 slot that girls rule again, with the delightful coming-of-age adventure Nim's Island, adding $4.5 million to its total take. It was a relatively quiet week for limited releases, though this area is still where the bright spots at the box office shine. The French thriller Roman de Gare had the best per-screen average of the weekend, earning $12,750 on each of its two screens, and Helen Hunt's feature directorial debut, Then She Found Me was second, earning $8,266 on each of its nine screens. But Baby Mama was a close third, its many millions breaking down to $7,184 at each of its more than 2500 venues. Next week the big numbers start rolling in, when Iron Man finally hits the screens. Let the summer begin. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Comments
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Disco PigsIn Film.com's latest movie of the week, Disco Pigs, two Irish kids (Pig and Runt), inseparable since birth, find their close relationship challenged by growing pains.
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