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Congratulations, Jack Black. You're No Longer Relevant

By Dustin Rowles | Box Office Round-Ups | December 27, 2010 |

By Dustin Rowles | Box Office Round-Ups | December 27, 2010 |


Little Fockers, on the hillside, Little Fockers made of ticky tacky. Little Fockers on the hillside, Little Fockers all the same.

Little Fockers put up $34 million over the weekend, bringing its overall haul up to $48 million, which puts it well on its way $100 million, plus another $150 million internationally to bring Little Fockers to a grand total of $Comedy Destruction. Tiny Christ in a moist toilette, people. You know what’s even more dispiriting for a movie that racked up a whopping 11 percent on the old Tomatometer? Sixty-eight percent of moviegoers liked it. Makes sense, I suppose. If you’re dumb enough to plunk down $10 to see Little Fockers, you’re probably dumb enough to like it. There was even one “top critic” who liked it. His name is Glen Kenney. He works for MSN Movies. Glen Kenny. Let’s all laugh at him.

The better news: Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit made $25 million over the weekend, and $36 million since it’s Christmas release, and on a $38 million budget, the movie has nearly made its money back already. It was also the Coen Brothers biggest opening to date. Fun Fact: The Coens have never had a $100 million movie before. Given that there are no new wide releases this week, and little of worth in the near term, True Grit might just be their first. (The movie deserves it, too).

Meanwhile, Tron: Legacy dropped a whopping 54 percent (huge for holidays, when holdovers generally dominate) to come in at number three, with $20 million. Looks like it’ll probably top out at $125 million, making a sequel unlikely. At least for another 25 years, when this generation develops a nostalgic fondness for that brightly lit, substance-less 2010 movie that their parents thought they liked until they rewatched it and realized how empty and dull it was.

In Oscar season numbers, The Fighter ($27 million cumulative), Black Swan ($29 million cum), and The King’s Speech ($8 million) are quietly putting up respectable numbers and will likely hang out in the top 10 for the next two months, if the awards notices go as expected. The news is not so good for 127 Hours, which has taken a tumble and stalled at around the $10 million mark. It may not progress much further without a few Oscar nominations, which is fair enough. Brilliantly executed film, but not a movie that sticks with you (the news stories about faintings during screenings, notwithstanding).

Finally, there was another wide release this weekend: Jack Black’s Gulliver’s Travels (review coming this afternoon) and it tanked, landing at number seven with a measly $7 million opening. Take the ensemble Tropic Thunder and his voice role in Kung Fu Panda out of the equation, and Black hasn’t had a hit since 2006’s Nacho Libre, a movie that most people hated (and yet, it still made $80 million).

This is what happens, Black, once you go down that family movie road: Danny McBride comes in a steals your roles, relegating you to a lifetime of Robin Williams (without the beard) roles. Congratulations, Jack Black: You’re no longer relevant. Move along, please.