<i>The Klumps</i> On Top — For Now
Eddie Murphy and The Klumps proved to be heavyweights at the box office this weekend. But does the film have staying power? CBS News Early Show contributor Laurie Hibberd doesn't think so.
Thanks, in part, to the absence of any other big openings, Eddie Murphy had his best opening ever with The Klumps. Here are the numbers according to Hollywood.com.
- The Klumps — Murphy's sequel to The Nutty Professor — made $43 million to take the number one spot.
- What Lies Beneath came in second with $22 million.
- In third, X-Men earned $12 million for the week and broke the $100 million mark overall. That's big news for them.
- Scary Movie and The Perfect Storm rounded out the top five.
"They expected $30 million and they got over $40 million," said Hibberd. "The funny thing about The Klumps-- it is really a great tour de force for Eddie Murphy. He does a terrific job playing all these people."
"But Hollywood makes the same mistake over and over and tries to pin the whole movie on an actor's personality and doesn't look at the entire script and think, 'there's no story here,'" said Hibberd. "Jim Carrey does the same thing. People are smarter than that and won't go unless they have a great story."
She said although The Klumps made a lot of money this week, "let's see what happens next week. A bona fide hit has legs" over several weeks.
Hibberd thinks people went to see this movie because they liked The Nutty Professor but ticket sales may fall off precipitously.
Meantime, What Lies Beneath was hanging in there in second place. The movie is doing better than expected, and Hibberd credits the star power of Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
What Lies Beneath was made by DreamWorks, which is having a very successful year. Hibberd says The Road To El Dorado was their only disappointment. "But after that, Gladiator and Chicken Run did well," followed by Road Trip.
Hibberd says Chicken Run has legs because "It's smart and has a good story. Imagine that."
She says X-Men's success means, "There will obviously be one sequel and they're talking about two." The cast is all signed.
Upcoming is Coyote Ugly, which Hibberd says is "cute" but "not Mensa material."