Some People Just Can't Catch a Break

Number-one could feel a little better today for the gang behind Funny People. High expectations gave way to the sobering reality that the world might not be quite ready for an epic study of relationships, mortality and comedy -- unless you can find a way to make it with guinea pigs, in which case the sky is apparently the limit. Read on for the rest of this weekend's box-office power rankings.

1. Funny People

Gross: $23,440,000 (new)

Screens: 3,008 (PSA: $7,793)

Weeks: 1

First place and $23.4 million (on a $75 million budget) isn't exactly what you'd call catastrophic for Universal, which has the massive failure of Land of the Lost earlier this summer to provide a little tank-job perspective. It's not especially good either, thus guaranteeing a succession of "Funny People: What Happened?" postmortems starting on the Web as early as this evening (it was the poster! It was the Twitter Effect!) followed naturally by a nervous call from Aziz Ansari to Judd Apatow to make sure this won't scuttle his RAAAAAAAANDY! spinoff. I'd say it tumbled fairly far down the priority list this weekend, alas.

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Gross: $17,700,000 (cume: $255,463,000)

Screens: 4,393 (PSA: $4,029)

Weeks: 3 (Change: -39.9%)

OK, so maybe Half-Blood Prince isn't this year's Dark Knight after all. Maybe this year's Hancock? Madagascar 2? I'll get it right eventually.

3. G-Force

Gross: $17,058,000 (cume: $66,461,000)

Screens: 3,697 (PSA: $4,614)

Weeks: 2 (Change: -46.2%)

A respectable second weekend boosted the likelihood of a G-Force sequel, with all the main characters expected to return except perhaps the moody hamster Bucky, whose demands for a swanky Super Pet CritterTrail X Hamster Home to replace his shabby trailer from the first film have not yet received a response from Disney.

4. The Ugly Truth

Gross: $13,000,000 (cume: $54,481,000)

Screens: 2,882 (PSA: $4,511)

Weeks: 2 (Change: -52.9%)

As America continues to endorse the Katherine Heigl/Gerard Butler romantic comedy with its collective dollars, even the critics seem to be starting to come around: Check out the much-improved 15 percent positive rating currently holding firm at Rotten Tomatoes. You had to know they'd finally see the light.

5. Aliens in the Attic

Gross: $7,800,000 (new)

Screens: 3,106 (PSA: $2,511)

Weeks: 1

There's not much consolation to be had here for Fox, but! Congratulations to Doris Roberts on her biggest opening since 1989's Christmas Vacation. Who smells a comeback?

[Data: Box Office Mojo]