So what do About a Boy, Addicted to Love, Hollywood Ending, The Love Letter, and The Perfect Man have in common? Like the ironically titled Lucky You, they all were modest romantic tales that had the bad luck to open against — and get squashed by — a big summer action/special effects blockbuster. In 2002, About a Boy debuted opposite Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones. Two weeks earlier, Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending bowed opposite the first Spider-Man. Meg Ryan’s Addicted to Love got chomped by the dinosaurs of The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. The Love Letter was the sacrificial lamb that had to share an opening weekend with the most anticipated movie of 1999, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. And two years ago, moviegoers overlooked Hilary Duff’s The Perfect Man in favor of Batman Begins. Of these counter-programming tactics, Hollywood Ending‘s was the least successful, opening with just $2.0 million toward a final tally of $4.9 million. Addicted had the strongest opening ($11.4 million), though About a Boy (pictured) had the highest final gross. During its theatrical lifetime, the Hugh Grant comedy earned $41 million, or about what Spider-Man 3 earned in a few hours on Friday.
Many of you guessed this one easily, though there were some entertaining wrong answers. "None of the movies star a radioactive spider bit photographer and his red-headed ditz of a girlfriend," noted Kirby Holt. (True, but…) Angela Savelle described the five films as "movies I would never, never see." (Also true, but…)
Others couldn’t help but editorialize. "I usually hate it when people put their feet on the seats in front of them in theaters, but I’m giving absolution to anyone who saw Lucky You this weekend. Odds are, you didn’t bother anyone," cracked Cliff Rives. "Couldn’t there have been a better movie that opened against a big Hollywood blockbuster other than Perfect Man?" asked Maxwell Benesi. "I would rather individually break all my fingers and toes over the course of twenty-four hours than sit through this insipid piece of film feces." Tell us how you really feel, Maxwell.
The lucky winners’ names are listed after the jump.
Maxwell Benesi
Erik Burns
Ryan Farr
Donovan Green
Danielle Hayden
JJ Jacobs
Tom Kelly
Shane Kwinter
Dan Leonard
Megan Low
Paul McDonald
James Mintz
Alex Navissi
Matt Nickerson
Chris Olivetti
Natalie Ott
Dan Peck
Kevin Q
Cliff Rives
Kim Rogers
Jeff Rybicki
Mike Tank
Rob Thomas
Patrick A. Yearout
Thanks for playing, everyone! Come back Friday for another HeadScratcher…
Yay I got it right.
Aw, Ms. Savelle grouped the wonderful, witty & warm “About a Boy” with all that other dreck as films she “would never see”? And you agreed? Travesty!
It’s too bad about “About a Boy” because it was a very enjoyable movie. As opposed to the summer blockbuster that crushed it…”Attack of the Clones” was so terrible that I gave up on Episode III altogether. Really.
About A Boy is my all-time favorite movie. It’s hysterically funny and yet still makes you cry. It was well-written and the actors did an amazing job.
Wow, I agree. About a Boy was a wonderful, well written, well acted movie. Please give it a shot before you lump it in with those other movies.