'Rock of Ages,' 'That's My Boy' flop at box office

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

Comedy took a beating at the domestic box office over Father's Day weekend as 1980s jukebox musical "Rock of Ages" and Adam Sandler's R-rated "That's My Boy" did dismal business in their debuts.

Instead, it was holdovers "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" and "Prometheus" that continued to top the chart, staying at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively with $35.5 million and $20.2 million.

"Rock of Ages" topped out at $15.1 million to place third; "That's My Boy" grossed $13 million to come in No. 5 after being bested by holdover "Snow White and the Huntsman" ($13.8 million).

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"Madagascar 3," from DreamWorks Animation and Paramount, fell less than 42 percent from its opening weekend and has earned $120.5 million in its first 10 days of play domestically and a resounding $277.5 million worldwide (the toon also won the international race in grossing $53 million for the weekend).

Twentieth Century Fox's "Prometheus," falling 60 percent, has now earned $88.9 million domestically.

The soft performances of Adam Shankman's musical "Rock of Ages" -- with an all-star ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand -- and "That's My Boy" are major disappointments for their respective studios and stars, and particularly Sandler.

"Rock of Ages," from New Line and Warner Bros., received a so-so B CinemaScore. The movie came in far behind Shankman and New Line's 2007 "Hairspray"?and Universal's 2008 "Mamma Mia!" Both of those movies -- likewise based on hit Broadway films -- opened just north fo $25 million.

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One issue for?"Rock of Ages" was that it failed to rally younger moviegoers, despite leads Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta. Nearly 75 percent of the audience was over the age of 25, the demo that most relates to the film's music. Females made up the majority of those buying tickets, or 62 percent.

"The numbers aren't great. It's hard to fathom since the movie plays so well," Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said. "I'm still optimistic we can overperform during the week because of women."

Both?"Rock of Ages" and "That's My Boy" cost just under $70 million to produce.

Sony's "That's My Boy," earning a B- CinemaScore, marks Sandler's lowest debut for a comedy since "Spanglish" in 2004 ($8.8 million). The film, pairing Sandler with Andy Samberg, is the actor's first R-rated comedy since "Funny People," which opened to $22.7 million in July 2007.

"Sure we had hoped for more. It is a crazy, off-the-wall raunchy R-rated comedy that audiences laugh like crazy at. Kudos to Adam for mixing it up," Sony president of worldwide distribution Rory Bruer said. "We love being in the Adam Sandler business."

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Sandler has been one of Hollywood's most consistent stars in terms of box office performance, although last year's summer comedy"Jack and Jill" underperformed domestically, cuming roughly $74 million.

"That's My Boy" played fairly evenly among males (54 percent) and females (46 percent), even though the picture had been tracking best among younger males. The comedy did succeed in luring younger moviegoers, with 52 percent of the audience under the age of 25.

Elsewhere at the box office, Sony's "Men in Black 3" grew its worldwide gross to $544.3 million, while specialty titles "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Moonrise Kingdom" continued to land on the top 10 chart domestically.

From Fox Searchlight and directed by John Madden, "Marigold Hotel" came in No. 8 with $2.2 million from 1,184 theaters for a North American cume of $35.1 million. Focus Features' "Moonrise," from director Wes Anderson, continued to expand nicely, grossing $2.1 million from 178 theaters for a cume of $6.8 million.

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