`Evan' Can Wait: Sequel Can't Reach the Promised Land

Jun 25, 09:10 AM

Current Headlines: The troubled and expensive comedy "Evan Almighty" had less than biblical power at the movie box office this weekend, though it still finished No. 1 with $32.1 million in ticket sales.

A sequel of sorts to the 2003 Jim Carrey blockbuster "Bruce Almighty," the satiric "Evan" stars Steve Carell as a congressman told by God to build an ark because a mighty flood is coming.

God is again played by Morgan Freeman, and Carell is also supported by a storm of Old Testament-inspired special effects that raised the movie's cost to $175 million. That makes it one of the most expensive comedies ever produced.

"Evan" sold less than half as many tickets as "Bruce" did when it opened in 2003. But "Evan" still had a better weekend than "A Mighty Heart," starring Angelina Jolie as the wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was captured and killed by Islamic radicals in 2002.

Jolie's high-celebrity profile apparently didn't help "Heart," which finished in 10th place with just $4 million.

The one new film that exceeded expectations this weekend was "1408," with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

A Stephen King horror tale, "1408," earned $20.175 million, which by preliminary estimates means it nosed out "The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" for second place.

"Silver Surfer" pulled in an estimated $20.15 million, pushing its two-weekend total to $97.6 million.

Elsewhere, Michael Moore's controversial health-industry film "Sicko" had a weekend-long "sneak preview" at Loews Lincoln Square in New York, earning an estimated $70,000.

It also had 43 one-shot previews at theaters around the country, all of which were sold out, the producers said. Its wide-release opening is Friday.

Hollywood rolls out its next wave of big-budget flicks this week, led by Bruce Willis in "Live Free or Die Hard." Also opening are the animated critter tale "Ratatouille" and the romantic drama "Evening."

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