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'The Smurfs' ties 'Cowboys and Aliens' for box weekend office
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Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are apparently no match for Neil Patrick Harris and a screenful of little blue CGI Smurfs. "The Smurfs" -- a 3-D live action redux of the one-time Saturday morning cartoon staple -- tied the Jon Favreau-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced "Cowboys and Aliens" for the weekend box office title. Both movies took in approximately $36.2 each in ticket sales.
Despite "Cowboys and Aliens'" solid critical reception, parents were obviously led to theater seats by their kids this weekend.
"I definitely think people underestimated us on this," Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures, tells The Wrap.
Also opening this weekend, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" which grossed a respectable $19.3 million and generated fabulous word-of-mouth buzz.
Note: We have respected a Twitter plea from former "Lost" showrunner Damon Lindelof and resisted the urge to use any variation of the verb "smurf" in the headline for this story.
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Photo/Video credit: Photo Illustration (Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures)
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Um, Cowboys & Aliens did not have a solid critical reception. It's sitting at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Solid would've meant a fresh rating of at least 60%.
What a sad weekend of new releases. All 3 new films collapsed from their Friday numbers. The Smurfs should have had a huge Saturday and Sunday thanks to matinees. It wouldn
t surprize me to see Monday actuals come in closer to the 33million dollar range for C&A and Smurfs. Apparently, the holdovers, Transformers 3, Captain America, and Potter, got all of the increased weekend business.
Nobody wanna watch Smurfs. Cowboys and Aliens movie idea is stupid.
$36.2 mill is a great opening, the surprise is "Smurfs" doing as well as it did. Both will likely leave the top 10 with well over $100 mill.
Smurfs,Ugh !
I wouldn't watch a Smurfs movie on DVD if the rental was free.
A bunch of my friends went and saw smurfs and walked out lol
They tie at the box office and you say one is no match for the other! Why does stupid so often prevail with the writers here?
@ karog: I couldn't agree more.
@ TitanGirl: The idea of "Cowboys & Aliens" is NOT a stupid idea and you're stupid for thinking such a thing. I saw the movie yesterday and it was awesome.
COWBOYS AND ALIENS GOT SMURFED !!! Sorry Damon but somebody had to say it !!!
How about a sequel "COWBOYS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS" filmed in Miami so they can bring the US Flag back to South Florida with additional location filming in California and a special appearance by the Arizona Governor. But even that job is too much for James Bond(Daniel Craig) but at least he has experience going undercover in Foreign Countries and Banana Republics like the city of MIAMI !!!