Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bridesmaids is now Judd Apatow's highest grossing film...

...and is about to break some more box office related records, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

With hits like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, producer-director Judd Apatow has spent the past decade as Hollywood's king of guy humor. But the Apatow-produced, female-driven comedy Bridesmaids is on track to pass Knocked Up on Wednesday night as the highest-grossing domestic movie of Apatow's career.

That’s not all. Projections show that by Sunday or Monday, Universal's Bridesmaids -- directed by Paul Feig -- will supplant Sex and the City as the top R-rated female comedy of all time domestically.

Through Tuesday, Bridesmaids' North America gross was $148.1 million, just behind Knocked Up, which cumed $148.8 million in 2007, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which earned $148.2 million domestically in 2006. Barring unforeseen interference from the Transformers sequel, Bridesmaids should pass both those movies Wednesday night.

Apatow directed and produced Knocked Up and produced Talladega Nights. Both were bigger hits overseas, with Knocked Up still serving as Apatow's top worldwide grosser at $219 million. Bridesmaids has made $21 million internationally but is still rolling out in many territories, where it is off to a phenomenal start.

In the U.S., Bridesmaids was released May 13 and is still playing in a little fewer than 2,000 theaters. Sex and the City grossed $153 million in 2008 but had the advantage of being based on a popular HBO series, which contributed to a whopping $57 million opening weekend. Bridesmaids, on the other hand, opened at a strong-but-not-blockbuster $26 million yet has continued to lure audiences based on strong word-of-mouth.

Bridesmaids also will become Universal’s top R-rated comedy of all time, replacing Knocked Up. The film stars Kristin Wiig -- who co-wrote the script with Annie Mumolo -- Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey.

-Joey's Two Cents: It couldn't have happened to a better film...thoughts?

5 comments:

  1. Also a hearty congratulations to Kristin Wiig, who is now in an excellent position to launch a fruitful career.

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  2. Kristen Wiig deserves to move to the A-list...and I could not be happier for all the success for everyone involved. And if you listen closely, those are a whole lot of studio execs rushing through their script piles looking for the next "Bridesmaids"...

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