Steve Carrell Trumphs Mike Myers at Box Office
This past weekend was one of the few so far this summer with two potential blockbusters of the same genre going head-to-head with broad comedies "Get Smart" and "The Love Guru" both coming out this past Friday. Many in the business were wondering if "Get Smart's" leading man, Steve Carrell, would be able to channel his appeal from "The Office" onto the big screen after his flop from last year's, "Evan Almighty." The other big question was whether former "Saturday Night Live" star Mike Meyers, also known as the man behind the voice of Shrek and Austin Powers, could still pull in big numbers with a new character.
After a five year absence from feature films (minus the animated "Shrek" films) and many a rumor about Myer's difficult nature, it seems neither Jessica Alba or Justin Timberlake could save this sinking ship. "Get Smart" grossed $39.1 million and came out number one for the weekend while "The Love Guru" came out at 4 with only $14.1 million.
Carrell, along with Anne Hathaway in one of her biggest films to date, brought the "Get Smart" TV franchise to a new generation mixing comedy with more action than in the original late 1960's TV series.
Personally, I was never a big fan of Myers' vulgar brand of comedy back in the day when "Austin Powers" was hot so haha for all "The Office" fans out there.
