Three Stooges does less bad than the Farrellys' last few movies

This weekend was a big one for hyped-up movie openings, including The Three Stooges, Cabin in the Woods, and the  PG-13 cut of Bully. The result was that even in its fourth week of release, The Hunger Games crapped on everything else. The Three Stooges grossed $17.1 million for the number two spot, which is somewhere between (*shrug*) and (*armpit fart*), but still good enough for the Farrelly Brothers’ biggest opening in a decade, and their third biggest of all time (behind Me, Myself & Irene and Shallow Hal). I guess Hall Pass wasn’t the box office juggernaut I remembered.

The Three Stooges took second place with an estimated $17.1 million. That’s off from most major TV adaptations, including 60s adaptations Get Smart ($38.7 million) and Bewitched ($20.1 million). It did open three times higher than The Honeymooners, though, and it wasn’t far behind big-budget disappointment Land of the Lost ($18.8 million). [BoxOfficeMojo]

Not to Monday Morning Quarterback this too much, but putting out a movie in which one of the world’s most famous slapstick comedic actors of all time (Moe Howard) is played by the spokesman for Charles Schwab (Chris Diamantopoulos) is bound to be a hard sell. Though I’ll say this for the guy, he’s got range.

“Not far behind Land of the Lost” is not a phrase you ever want to hear describing your box office totals. Meanwhile, the Joss Whedon-produced Cabin in the Woods opened in third with $14.8 million, which is great when compared specifically to other horror comedies, but not great compared to anything else. But it was a hard sell considering no one really knew what the hell it was about and the Whedon fanboys would cut you if you tried to explain. I still have no idea, but I’m sure it will surely someday be recognized is a modern-day classic amongst fat guys with beards.

Finally, the PG-13 cut of Bully, which Harvey Weinstein lobbied so hard for (spawning an entire South Park episode), opened in 158 theaters, grossing just $3,380 per theater, a hard fall from the $23,000 per screen the R-rated cut took in a few weeks ago. I guess it just goes to show, no one cares about bullying unless the bully has her tits out. (Note: I have not seen Bully).

Weekend Box Office

This Week Last Week Movie Cumulative Gross Week # of Theaters
1 1
Lionsgate
$21,500,000
$337.1M 4 3916
2
20th Century Fox Distribution
$17,100,000
$17.1M 1 3477
3
Lionsgate
$14,850,000
$14.8M 1 2811
4 3
Paramount Pictures
$11,625,000
$44.4M 2 2697
5 2
Universal Pictures
$10,649,975
$39.9M 2 3203
6 5
Relativity Media Distribution Group
$7,000,000
$49.5M 3 3206
7 4
Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
$6,905,000
$71.3M 3 3102
8 6
$6,800,000
$120.6M 5 2735
9
Open Road Films
$6,250,000
$6.2M 1 2308
10 7
Universal Pictures
$3,020,160
$204.5M 7 2112

[Chart via Yahoo, numbers via BoxOfficeMojo]

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