IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive
RottenTomatoes.com
Register | Log In | What is RT?
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Trailers & Pictures The Vine Forums
Features | Columns | Guides
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
news
UK Box Office Breakdown: Lame Comedies Sneak into Top 10
27 Dresses nabs top spot while Drillbit Taylor comes in 5th.
by Orlando Parfitt | April 03, 2008
Blog Article | Discuss Article
This week's UK Box Office Top EightTwo of the talents who became Hollywood Hot property after the success of Knocked Up last year fell flat on their faces with their latest offerings this week, but apathy at UK box office still ensured the Judd Atapow-produced Drillbit Taylor and the Katherine Heigl-starrer 27 Dresses broke into the top ten.

Last week, the combination of a spate of childrens' film getting their release and nippers taking a well-earned holiday ensured big takings for The Spiderwick Chronicles, Horton Hears a Who and Step Up 2 the Streets.

However, with the munchkins safely back at school, this Spring's disappointing box office performance resumed with audiences choosing to avoid most of the fare on offer -- giving Fox's 27 Dresses the chance to nab top spot.

The film casts Hollywood's Next-Big-Thing Katherine Heigl as Jane, who has been the bridesmaid 27 times, but sadly never the bride. Will she find happiness and the man of her dreams? Most critics decided they couldn't care less, with only 39% of them giving the film a positive review. Reviewers scorned the frothy, cheesy storylines and lamented gifted comedian Heigl's decision to star in such routine fare. Cath Clarke of the Guardian summed things up: "What a maddening waste of Katherine Heigl this insipid romantic comedy is."

Still, it was the only rom-com released this week, and thus thousands of listless, bored couples flocked to cinemas, maybe shared a meal at Pizza Hut beforehand, and sat through one-and-a-half hours of inoffensive fluff before returning home to the suburbs.

Drillbit Taylor received similarly awful notices -- with not enough laughs and even mean-spiritedness among the many faults levelled at the film. The premise, which revolved around Owen Wilson's low-budget bodyguard - hired by school kids to protect them from the playground bully - appeared ripe in comic potential, but that seemingly evaporated on the way to the big screen.

The film is Atapow's first critical and commercial failure since he broke throw to the mainstream last year, with the film making only just over £700,000 this week, bringing it in at a lowly 5th place. Paramount wont be pleased.

Related Items
Movie: Drillbit Taylor
Celeb: Judd Apatow
Katherine Heigl
Owen Wilson
Bookmark and Share
Comments (1-3 of 3 posts) | Reply
389207
SlyDante writes:
on Apr 02 2008 12:17 PM

Um...When did this site start to report the UK box office results? o_O

(Reply to this)
491249
Austra1ia writes:
on Apr 02 2008 12:17 PM

Bloody hell!

(Reply to this)
524379
iggybumtastic writes:
on Apr 04 2008 03:49 AM

Living in the UK i have to say, that currently the cinema has nothing worth going to see, so i got dragged to 27 dresses with the girlfriend, and that was awful.

talk movies at itsfilmtastic.co.uk


(Reply to this)
Read More Comments
Page | 1
Post Your Comment
You must be registered to post comments. Login or Register.
Related Links
27 Dresses
  • Pictures
  • Posters
  • News
  • Forum
Related Articles
  • RT on DVD: The Golden Compass, 27 Dresses, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 22
  • UK Box Office Breakdown: Craig's Fool Has Disasterous Opening 0
  • UK Box Office Breakdown: Son of Rambow Highest New Entry 0
  • UK Box Office Breakdown: Lame Comedies Sneak into Top 10 3
  • Box Office Preview: Four New Candidates Arrive For Presidents' Day 8
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Fool's Gold Hopes to Shine in Battle of New Comedies 3
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Montana Hopes to Win Super Bowl Trophy 10
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Rambo Leads Army of New Films Into Battle 9
  • Critics' Consensus: Cloverfield is Monstrously Fun, 27 Dresses Fails to Impress, Mad Money Not Worth Much 21
  • Box Office Guru Preview: 01.18.08 Arrives 8
Most Discussed
  • RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films! 74
  • Weekly Ketchup: Raimi and Maguire return for Spider-Man 4 and 5 55
  • Exclusive: Zack and Miri Make a Porno Red Band Trailer! 48
  • What The Hell Happened To ... Cuba Gooding Jr.? 40
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Tropic Thunder Triumphantly closes Summer 35
  • RT on DVD: Transformers Hit Blu-ray; Watch Office DVD Blooper Reel 21
  • Total Recall: RT's Schoolhouse Favorites 21
  • Critics Consensus: Bangkok Dangerous Plays Too Safe 20
  • RT Steps Up Its Game 15
  • Exclusive Stills: Julianne Moore in Blindness 11
Latest News
  • Weekly Ketchup: Raimi and Maguire return for Spider-Man 4 and 5 55
  • What The Hell Happened To ... Cuba Gooding Jr.? 40
  • Video Exclusive: Gerard Butler talks RocknRolla and 300 sequel with RT 6
  • Box Office Guru Preview: Cage Offers One Night in Bangkok 11
  • Critics Consensus: Bangkok Dangerous Plays Too Safe 20
  • RT Steps Up Its Game 15
  • RT Exclusive: Ping Pong Playa featurette! 6
  • Total Recall: RT's Schoolhouse Favorites 21
  • Exclusive Stills: Julianne Moore in Blindness 11
  • Exclusive: Zack and Miri Make a Porno Red Band Trailer! 48
Latest Interviews
  • Video Exclusive: Gerard Butler talks RocknRolla and 300 sequel with RT 6
  • Video Exclusive: Maria Bello, Brendan Fraser and the Mummy 3 Cast Talk to RT 14
  • RT goes behind the scenes on Stargate: Continuum 4
  • Starship Troopers' Casper Van Dien Shares His Five Favorite Films 48
  • RT Interview: Philippe Petit on Crossing the Twin Towers on a Wire 2
  • RT Interview: David Duchovny on The X-Files, Californication and Directing 11
  • RT Interview: Ben Barnes on Taking on the Journey of Prince Caspian 1
  • RT Interview: William Moseley on His Last Narnia Adventure in Prince Caspian 2
  • RT Interview: Jack Black on Kung Fu Panda 6
  • RT Interview: Skandar Keynes on the Action Challenge of Prince Caspian 2
Latest Features
  • RT's Summer in Review: The Best, The Worst, and Our Favorite Films! 74
  • What The Hell Happened To Shannon Elizabeth? 96
  • RT Counts Down the Best-Reviewed Theater Movies of all Time! 0
  • Exclusive: Sneak Peek at Coraline! (Video #5) 23
  • What The Hell Happened To Wesley Snipes? 100
  • 20 CGI Classics - From T2 to Batman Begins to WALL-E 163
  • RT's Trailer Analysis: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 103
  • Kim Newman's Guide to The X-Files 13
  • Picture Show: The Best Costumes of Comic-Con 2008 33
  • Watching the Watchmen Trailer: A Detailed Analysis 108


 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.