Weekend Box Office: Gay motorcycle comedy seduces America

A testament to the old adage that no one has ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the general populace, the gay-panic road comedy Wild Hogs was the runaway winner at this weekend's box office, logging a depressing $38 million. That's slightly less money than Norbit's opening draw—if that can be counted as a silver lining—but probably enough to push it to $100 million within five weeks or so. The week's other big opening, David Fincher's acclaimed procedural Zodiac, came in a distant second with $13.1 million, though it should be noted that it's 40 minutes longer and opened on nearly 1000 fewer screens. That left Black Snake Moan, Craig Brewer's controversial follow-up to Hustle & Flow, to finish all the way back in eighth place with $4 million, though it's release (and budget) was considerably more limited than the other new movies this weekend.

Meanwhile, Ghost Rider is but a weekend away from the magic $100 million mark (the horror! the horror!) and Gray Matters, the poorly reviewed lipstick lesbian romantic comedy starring Heather Graham, netted $6,200 on its second weekend and seems unlikely to gross enough to pay off my student loans.

More detailed numbers at Box Office Mojo.

 
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