TVSquad

I didn't think going into the weekend that the new X-Files movie (see Cinematical's review) had much of a shot at opening at number one. After the opening that the new Batman enjoyed the previous weekend, it was going to be a tough mountain to climb. That being said, I didn't think number two was an overly ambitious goal. And number three would have been a bit surprising. But number four and $10.2 million? Yikes.

As expected, The Dark Knight once again topped the box office with the biggest second weekend on record. Surprisingly though, Mulder and Scully also trailed Step Brothers and the second week of Mama Mia. The B word is already being tossed around, understandably so. Despite that, studio executives are standing by to assure everyone that with foreign box office and DVD the movie will still turn a profit. That's all well and good, but I don't think anyone should be getting their hopes up for round three any time soon.

I've always been amazed at how analysts can project who's won the box office for the weekend before that weekend even ends. But I've never seen a box office champ predicted before the movie is even released. Apparently, though, that seems to be the case with the new movie from two of the funniest women on TV.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie Baby Mama, which stars SNL's Amy Poehler and 30 Rock's Tina Fey, will likely win the box office race this weekend. The film, which is being released today, has been garnering a lot of pre-release interest among 12-to-16 year-old girls, according to tracking surveys taken over the last few weeks. Huh? Didn't know stories about surrogacy were big with teenage girls. Is there something someone isn't telling me?

If you noticed, we haven't done a lot of posts about The Simpsons leading up to the release of The Simpsons Movie. There are a few reasons for that: 1) it's a movie, and our friends at Cinematical have that beat pretty well covered, 2) we did some Simpsons stuff before its 400th episode, and 3) everyone else was doing it.

But there's no denying that all the promotional tie-ins, Simpsonizing web sites, and just the general popularity of the show paid off, now that the weekend's box office totals are in: the movie came in at #1 for the week, bringing in an impressive $71.9 million. Even Adam Sandler's latest epic, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, couldn't withstand the power of Yellow: it came in second with just over $19 million in sales.

Just when I hoped thought reality television was on its way out, Steven Spielberg enters the fray. He has teamed up with reality television genius Mark Burnett. The new show for FOX is called On the Lot and it's described as a cross between American Idol and The Apprentice (huh?). Here's how it works: 16 finalists will divide into two teams. Each team has to write, direct, and edit a short film from a different genre each week. The excitement will be in all the usual frustrations that face filmmakers such as budgetary issues, creative differences, time crunch, and high-maintenance talent. Like American Idol, the show will air two nights each week. The first night will be the showings of the contestants' films and the second night will be the "box office", where someone gets booted out of the competition. The films will be judged by a panel of experts. The ultimate winner gets a studio deal with Dreamworks. Sweet!