Note to future movie marketers: Slapping a powdered wig on Robin Williams doesn't do the trick. In what was otherwise a healthy weekend at the box office, Williams' political comedy/thriller/stand-up film Man Of The Year landed with a thunk in third place to earn $12.5 million. The Barry Levinsin-scripter-and-directed feature failed to edge out Martin Scorsese's The Departed, which fell, but not far, from first place to second, earning $18.7 million.
But the view from the top belongs to The Grudge 2, whose $22 million earned it bragging rights. Takashi Shimizu–who began the Grudge franchise as a pair of direct-to-Japanese-video movies in the early-'00s–directed. Amber Tamblyn and a bunch of pale ghosts starred.
The chart:
1. The Grudge 2, $22 million
2. The Departed, $18.7 million
3. Man Of The Year, $12.5 million
4. Open Season, $11 million
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, $7.8 million
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, CNN.com