When a “Spy Kids” sequel beats out “Conan the Barbarian” and “Fright Night”, I think we can declare the ’80s revival officially over. (This is going to come as a shock to the producers of the new “Footloose”.)
Instead, what I presume to be a horde of middle-aged, megaplex-averse ladies charged the box-office this weekend, driving “The Help” to the top of the charts with a $20.5 milion take. Last week’s champion, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, dropped into second with $16.3 million.
The new releases barely challenged them; “Spy Kids 4” placed third with $12 million, “Conan” fourth with $10 million, and “Fright Night” fifth with a piddly $8.3 million, which suggests that David Tennant’s “Doctor Who” fan base trooped out to see it — understandably so, as he’s the best thing in the movie — but no one else did. (One Day”, which presumably would appeal to the same warm-n-fuzzy crowd that saw “The Help” last weekend, barely beat “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” for ninth place, earning $5.1 million to the older film’s $5 million.)
Kinda makes you wonder whether “Spy Kids”, “Conan” and “Fright Night” would have done better if they’d been released in 2D, huh? It hasn’t hurt the top two pictures any …
Shame about Fright Night. I enjoyed that quite a bit.
Also rewatched the original on cable Sunday morning, and that really hasn’t aged well at all.