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The first weekend of August came in with a whimper when Funny People failed to generate much business over the three-day period.

Funny People took a dubious number one place this week with a soft $23.4M. The film was targeted by many to hit $30M and some predictions had it as high as $40M. The team of Adam Sandler and writer/director Judd Apatow looked unbeatable heading into Friday.

So what happened? Many factors can be attributed to the weak opening. The ads for the film baffled audiences who wondered if it was going to be more of a comedy or drama. The R rating in the US stopped a primary fan group of Adam Sandler’s from seeing him in the movie. Also, audiences were in the mood for more escapist fare and this did not look like as much fun as the G-Forces and Ugly Truths out there. My prediction of $35M was way off but I don’t think I’m the only one off on this one.

Bolstered by new IMAX 3-D engagements, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took second place this week. Harry Potter‘s run at the IMAX screens was delayed by the engagements of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which had a month-long exclusive play on those screens. For the weekend, Harry Potter 6 grossed $17.7M which was a slight bit higher than by $16.5M prediction.

Third went to last week’s number one movie G-Force. With virtually no competition for kids, the rodents slipped 46% for a $17M gross which was $5M less than I had guessed it would make. G-Force should continue the taking money from parents for a long, long time.

The romantic comedy The Ugly Truth fell two spots and took fourth this weekend. The film fell a sharp 53% in its second week and doesn’t look to have the legs The Proposal, summer’s other rom-com, has. The Ugly Truth‘s $13M weekend was way below my $17M hunch.

Fifth went to the D.O.A. Aliens in the Attic which was unceremoniously dumped into cinemas by its distributor Fox this week. The film barely made a dent with an anemic $7.8M three-day period showing that kids may just be that much smarter than I give them credit for. I myself gave the film too much credit estimating a now laughable $13M weekend.

The Orphan managed to reverse the big second weekend drop curse that has befallen many a horror before it. The gory thriller fell a very commendable 44% for a $7.2M three-day gross which was $3M higher than my guess.

Ice Age 3 took seventh with $5.3M and fell only 37% this weekend after having a huge 50% drop last weekend. This was my closest guess from Friday’s predictions as I had it at $5M over three days.

The Hangover is still surprising pundits the world over with another small drop. This weekend it fell only 21% for a $5M gross from August 1-3. This one’s still has a strong word-of-mouth factor even after two months in release.

Ninth went to the other romantic comedy The Proposal which also had a minuscule drop. It fell 24% for a weekend gross of $4.8M

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen clung onto last place with a $4.6M gross. This will be the film’s last weekend in the top ten but it does hold the year’s crown for top grossing picture with $388M so far.

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