Weekend Box Office: Guru outSmarted

By Genevieve Koski | June 23, 2008 | 1:37pm

Aux Features Newswire

Those who have grown tired of Mike Myers' mugging over the years may be tempted to wallow in some schadenfreude today: Myers' much–maligned new comedy, The Love Guru, which rode in on a sea of bad press, crashed in at No. 4 at the box office this weekend, well behind this week's other new release, Steve Carell's redux of '60s spy series Get Smart. But you might want to temper that glee a bit, folks–though Get Smart took the top spot this weekend with $39.2 million, it stopped way short of Meyers' last PG-13 comedy, 2002's Austin Powers In Goldmember, which debuted with $73 million. However, the commercial and critical mauling The Love Guru took this weekend suggests Myers might be better off sticking with–God help us–high-grossing family fare like Shrek and Cat In The Hat from now on.

Last week's No. 1, The Incredible Hulk, took a significant tumble to No. 3 with $21.5 million, where it was just barely edged out by Kung Fu Panda, which held on to its No. 2 spot from last week with $21.7 million. But the biggest fall in the top 10 came courtesy of The Happening, which dropped 67 percent from last week, down to No. 5 with $10 million. You Don't Mess With The Zohan continued its steady decline, down to No. 7 after three weeks, and The Strangers just barely hung on to the top 10 after four weeks. Meanwhile, cash cows Indiana Jones, Sex And The City, and Iron Man continue chugging right along at Nos. 6, 8, and 9, respectively.