I’m uncomfortable saying that Katherine Heigl’s new film, Life As We Know It, bombed. Did it do as well as expected? No, it didn’t. Many of the professional predictors claimed that the film would earn the number one spot, and it didn’t. Instead, The Social Network won the box office again this week, for the second week in a row, and Life As We Know It took second place:
Movie fans have bookmarked the Facebook drama “The Social Network” as their weekend favorite. David Fincher’s saga about personality clashes and legal feuds among the website’s founders took in $15.5 million to remain the No. 1 film for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Released by Sony, “The Social Network” raised its 10-day total to $46.1 million.
Debuting a close second with a so-so $14.6 million weekend was the Warner Bros. romance “Life as We Know It,” starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as sparring guardians to an orphaned girl. Disney’s horse-racing drama “Secretariat,” starring Diane Lane, also had a so-so debut, coming in at No. 3 with $12.6 million. Opening a weak No. 5 with $7 million was Wes Craven’s serial killer thriller “My Soul to Take,” released by Rogue Pictures.
With great reviews, audience word-of-mouth and Academy Awards buzz, “The Social Network” saw its business hold up well, dropping a scant 31 percent from opening weekend.
“It’s the type of picture that people can’t take their eyes off of,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony. “Just about everyone has said to me that it’s a movie they want to see again, as well. This picture is going to be around for a long time.”
“The Social Network” dominated a field of newcomers and holdovers fighting largely for fans 25 and older, a segment of the audience less likely to jam into theaters than those in their teens and early 20s.
Female crowds made up just over two-thirds of the audience for “Life as We Know It,” according to Warner Bros. That segment of the audience often holds up well in the weeks following a movie’s debut.
“Yes, there is a whole bunch of stuff for adults this year,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner general sales manager. “But the female audience goes for a certain level, and for us, I think we kind of hit that. I think we’ll hang around a while.”
[From Huffington Post]
So this has caused some critics to openly question whether Dame Heigl can still open a movie, although they’re quick to point out that Heigl’s film did better than Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Aniston’s latest rom-coms. But – it probably isn’t all that great in the end, if people are openly questioning whether Heigl’s big mouth and bitchy attitude hurts a film’s performance. It would also help if she stopped making crappy movies, in my opinion.
Every review I saw of this film gave it a “D” or one star. I don’t know why Hollywood thinks we’re going to shell out ten bucks for the same movie being remade every two years.
Yes, Katherine does have a nasty attitude. She is no longer a box-office draw. Studios are wasting their money making her the star of movies.
“It would also help if she stopped making crappy movies, in my opinion.”
…hit the nail on the head.
I didn’t see it. The only reason I would was because of Josh. He is…seriously attractive.
I think it was the movie, not her attitude. The premise seemed ridiculous.
Well, it did better than I thought it would.
I read the review (I think it was Pajiba?) that compared it to Jackass. It said she was once again playing an uptight character. No, thanks. I think that hurts her is that she seems to be playing herself in all her movies. Judging from her interviews, she isn’t very pleasant and it puts me off.
Oh yeah, and when you guys were talking about her hair color before I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention because it really didn’t seem that bad. However, looking at it closeup you can tell whoever colored it must have completely fried her hair trying to take it from brunette to blonde so quickly.
The movie did exactly as predicted . . . the experts said it would open at around $15M and fight for the #1 spot with “Social Network.” That’s what happen. Also, as mentioned, $14M is about twice what Aniston’s latest bomb did at the opening BO and both movies cost about the same to produce. The movie didn’t cost that much and, I believe the audience leaving the theatre gave the movie an A-.
I do think that Heigl needs to stop with the romcoms NOW and try to get better scripts. She’s not the world’s greatest actress but she’s still fairly young and she needs go for some non-romantic comedy roles. Maybe that Stephanie Plum movie will change things for her. If that first movie is a hit, it could turn into a franchise for her.
Her attitude doesn’t bother me and the fact that this film opened at #2 is pretty darn good considering its a run of the mill rom-com. I have to admit that there is something to Heigl, a Julia Roberts quality that makes her appealing to watch. I have enjoyed the rom-coms I have seen her in. I would never pay to see a rom-com in a theater though. I have once but not in these times will I again. As far as I am concerned the film didn’t bomb at all.
I saw the movie and it was cute. It was not as bad as the critics made it out to be, as a matter of fact, there were some good scene and some solid actors. Sadly, I think Heigl’s attitude has gotten her into a lot of trouble. She, like everyone, has a right to complain about things, but she simply came across as nasty and ungrateful. In this day and age when someone makes the money she does and has the life she has, there had better be a little more humility and graciousness. In the end, yeah, I think her past remarks and attitude hurt the film’s opening.
Everyone that I know who has seen it, really liked it. Was it Oscar worthy? No, but then again I don’t think this movie was supposed to be in the running. 😉 Sometimes a movie is just supposed to be entertaining and fun, and nothing more.
I like her movies, they are fun and kinda mindless and great for when you are not in the mood for something heavy, and fill the need when one wants to see a chick flick.
And I agree with others here, I would like to see her tackle something with a little more bite to it. I bet she could pull it off.
Personally I think she is suffering from the “oh she spoke out and now she is labeled a bitch” thing. But I think it is time to title go. ABC must still be pissed because she spoke her mind about being unhappy with the drivel written for her on Grey’s.
her haircolor screams home made “shade “cholita”, brand “ihavenoclue”
Gotta love that dress though.
honestly, all i see when i look at her is the jerk who f’ed up grey’s anatomy by throwing a diva tantrums and bolting as soon as she got some attention.
Maybe it was her yellow hair.
My guess is she will no longer be able to greenlight a film by signing on but she isn’t going anywhere. She is the new Kate Hudson /Jen Aniston she will make these crappy rom-coms until she hits her 40s but she won’t be considered A-list anymore.
I saw the movie and it was funny. Like someone else said: Oscar worthy? No. But a nice little movie. I certainly never expected it to top Social Network.
That said, she seems to have become the girl all the kids pick on (see the first picture you chose to use). She’s had a piss-poor attitude in the past, yet it’s never really been any worse than most actresses out there.
When Chloe Sven-whatever said the exact same thing about BIg Love having been crap, nobody blinked. But for some reason Heigl got crucified for saying much less and saying it more diplomatically.
I cannot stand these types of movies, but I would rather see this movie than that Social Network crap about Facebook.
I have yet to see her in a rom com that was any good. The one with Gerard Butler was embarrassing to watch. After that I would not bother.
I didn’t think she could EVER open a film by herself. She’s just not that big a draw. That said, her publicity rounds for this film actually made me like her a little more than I have in the past.
I generally really like Katherine Heigl. She does lack the filter between her brain and mouth sometimes ( I can identify with that whoops! ) She’s smart and usually funny. The thing I hate is who the hell let this girl out the house with this crap color? Geez her stylist needs to be shot! All these actresses with these cracked out hair colors, WTF? Man a super light blonde looks cheap on most folks unless its your natural color, this gal’s looks orange, like the great pumpkin came early!
She hasn’t made a good movie since “Knocked Up.” She plays the same neurotic, shouty, annoying character in every film.
I think people who like her movies, like her and will go see this one and not be disapointed. I think also that Josh is a big draw too, much more than her last co-star Ashton Kutcher which might account for why that movie bombed. But sooner or later movie goers are going to get tired of seeing her play the same character over and over. Also, her attitude doesn’t help win fans.
The genre is just done. Rom Coms are awful. Now a love story, that could be good. But these Aniston, Heigl, etc. flicks are just a waste of space in the universe.
As for Heigl, she doesn’t show vulnerability very well, so rom coms are definitely not for her. She should stick to dramas.
I was confused with the Oscar worthy comments, thinking “on what planet would this get an Oscar” but then I realized Kaiser was referring to the Social Network.
KH had some seriously great acting moments on Grey’s. The arc, the first time around, with Denny when he died and she was with him, were extremely powerful – for which she won her Emmy – so when she left the show to be a movie star, I expected her to continue with drama and go for Oscar gold. She made such a fuss about how poor the writing was on Grey’s for Izzie, I thought she was seeking the big time scripts. Then she started churning out popcorn flicks. Even though she is funny, I find her movies to be shiteous and would not go out of my way to see them.
I actually want to see this movie. My friend and I wanted to see Secretariat or this this weekend, but since we live in Chicago and it was 90 degrees in October, we took advantage and decided not to waste our last warm day sitting in a cold theater…
I think that even if Katherine Heigl had apologized for every bad comment she made, fixed her hair, and volunteered at a homeless shelter every week for two months leading up to the movie’s premiere, that the movie still would have bombed because it was BULLS***, plain and simple.
@ archiepelago: I agree. I wonder if she is getting some very bad advice. So many rom-coms, not that great either, makes me wonder about her decisions. Maybe she’s just trying to make as much money as possible, and romcoms are the quickest and easiest to make, it seems, but I would have thought she’s go for more serious fare if she wanted to be taken seriously. it all feels very typically hollywood delusional.
The review in my paper said it wasn’t too bad once you got past the awful opening premise:
Two young people dying in a horrific car crash to set another couple up in a rom-com.
Even the ‘Two young people die in a car crash and leave the kids to a previously non-maternal type’ is played out. This is going too far. This film could’ve starred James Mason the actor and James Mason the architect, it just would never hold that much of an appeal for that certain subset of the audience who is just burnt out on this high-concept, low-impact dross. The movie looked so crappy, all anyone could talk about was her hair–there’s your predictor. Rom-coms not starring Jennifer Aniston almost always do respectable business, and when the only new release was about a horse who didn’t face any Seabiscuit-like trials, nothing unexpected happened. But, I don’t understand the notion that studios have that all women over 25 would like nothing better than to see women act like mean battleaxes for no real reason, and men behave like feral cats for no real reason/protection from batshit–oh, wait, ‘strong’ women only to collapse from pheramone shock, fight about nothing and act like fools because of the grand gesture. I’m getting a little ticked just typing about it. I’m going to go do anything else.
@Jo ‘Mama’-
Except for the ‘high-concept’ classification, I completely agree.
‘”Yes, there is a whole bunch of stuff for adults this year,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner general sales manager. “But the female audience goes for a certain level, and for us, I think we kind of hit that…”‘
Am I the only one who noticed the incredibly condescending attitude here?
Why is this bland plank famous?
I think people are just kind of bored with movies that appear to be a copy of the standard rom-com formula.
We all know the formula:
-Mismatched man and woman hate each other (because she is a control freak/uptight bitch and he is an immature man-boy/womanizer).
-Mismatched man and woman find themselves in a unique situation that forces interaction.
-Mismatched man and woman now see each other in a different light.
-Mismatched man and woman fall in love and live quirkily ever after.
Tell me, how many movies have fit into this formula in the past ten years? The past 20? Let me name just a few: Life as We Know It, The Ugly Truth, Knocked Up and 27 Dresses. Know who stars in those movies? Katherine Heigl.
I read an interesting interpretation of why many romantic comedies are thought of as distasteful by the masses (I wish I could remember where I read this to give the proper credit, but here is my attempt at paraphrasing):
The reason many rom-coms are not appealing to critics and audiences is because they often center on two people who are not particularly likeable, (and who by all rights should not be together), and it forces them through a series of wacky events that eventually lead to each other’s arms.
The most romantic stories are about people who SHOULD be together, but who cannot be together through circumstance (Romeo and Juliet being the classic example, though that is hardly a comedy).
Rom-coms are often about people who SHOULD NOT be together, people who the viewer often does not even care about because of their stereotypical caricature personalities. (This caricature of women being overly serious, anti-fun, uptight, and frigid has to go.)
Katherine Heigl needs to go after different roles (and she needs a new hair color. Egad, what kind of color is that on her head now?!)
Katherine Heigl is no movie star. There are prettier girls working in every store in the mall, she doesn’t have great acting skills, her attitude is overbearing and still I find her boring.
her hair is urine colored.
@Lizzard
I have to know, did you wear long sleeves or short sleeves that day and why secretariat? I really wanted to see Out of Africa with my great aunt Thelma, but for some strange reason it was not playing in the movie theatres anymore. any thoughts on that?
While it did OK, I think the bad reviews and overplayed romcom themes kept it from doing better. Plus, I don’t think either of the stars are really big box office draws. Heigl rode a nice little Grey’s Anatomy wave for a year or 2, but after that, I think most people were kind of over it.
I actually found her watchable (and likeable) in Knocked Up – then her feud with Seth Rogen spoiled everything. She was doing OK on Greys Anatomy then it all blew up, too. It’s getting harder giving her the benefit of the doubt …
I think she’s a decent actress who started to believe her own press. Let’s face it, when she kept going on and on about Isaiah Washington, people kept saying how brave she was. But when she started talking about Judd Apatow and Knocked Up things went downhill from there (and don’t get me started on her Grey’s comments). This movie was so heavily advertised and they basically showed the entire movie during the incessant commercials that you kind of knew exactly what was going to happen. RomComs can be well done but Hollywood still thinks that as women we will check our standards at the ticket window to get a gander at some good old fashioned romance so they keep making clunkers with the interchangeables: Heigl, Aniston, Barrymore, and Diaz.
i agree with whomever said she should try drama. i always thought she was one of the strongest actors on grey’s (sandra oh being another) and i’m surprised she’s done nothing but cheesy, predictable rom-com after another.
with that being said, this movie reminds me of kate hudson’s “raising helen.” cute but something i’ll watch on HBO or SHOWTIME when there’s nothing else on.