the Fantastic Four go forward......

[KiwiCoromandel]

The superhero movie "Fantastic Four" overcame some of the worst reviews of the year to top the North American box office with better-than-expected weekend ticket sales of $56 million, its distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.

The News Corp. -owned studio had hoped for an opening in the mid- to high-$30 million range. The film, which cost a little over $100 million to make, is based on characters in the comic book stable of Marvel Enterprises Inc., and had been in the works for 11 years.

Last weekend's champion, "War of the Worlds," slipped to No. 2 with $31.3 million for the three days beginning on Friday, followed by "Batman Begins" with $10.2 million.

The Jennifer Connelly suspense film "Dark Water" opened at No. 4 with $10.1 million, and the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie action thriller "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" slipped two places to No. 5 with $7.9 million.

"Fantastic Four," which revolves around a quartet imbued with special powers such as invisibility and elasticity after a space mission gone wrong, appeared to fill moviegoers' desire for something "light and frothy," said Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder.

But critics were unimpressed. The New York Times said the film was "fantastic only its commitment to mediocrity," while USA Today was marginally kinder, calling it a "ho-hum futuristic foray."

The film's less-than-stellar cast includes Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis. It was directed by Tim Story, best known for the urban comedy "Barbershop."

"War of the Worlds" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc . "Batman Begins" was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc . "Dark Water" was released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co . Fox also released "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

Reuters/VNU

[Ken]

The superhero movie "Fantastic Four" overcame some of the worst reviews of the year to top the North American box office with better-than-expected weekend ticket sales of $56 million

..............proving once again that the majority of people who go to see movies are drooling retards who would pay to see anything.

[Shawn]

How could any movie featuring Jessica Alba be described as having a less than stellar cast? ;)

[Ken]

How could any movie featuring Jessica Alba be described as having a less than stellar cast?

I was thinking the same thing, only without the words "less than".