Question: When is being the #1 movie just not enough? (Hint:  You have three chances to answer this question correctly).

Answer(s):

1. When the critics don’t really have anything good to say about you
2. When you made less than 1/2 of what your predecessor did on opening weekend
3. When it cost over $175 million just to create you

Apparently having God on your side doesn’t guarantee you heavenly box office numbers.  Evan Almighty, the follow-up to 2003’s Bruce Almighty, failed to bring in a large congregation this past weekend.  Although it did better than the rest of the flock, it’s $32 million take paled in comparison to Bruce’s $68 million opening.  And then there’s that glaring $175 million bill…

Of course, we shouldn’t feel so badly about Steve Carell’s career.  I have a feeling that God is providing for him in other ways.

1. Evan Almighty, Universal, $31,192,615
2. 1408, MGM, $20,617,667
3. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Fox, $20,009,476
4. Ocean’s Thirteen, Warner Bros., $11,411,268
5. Knocked Up, Universal, $10,977,595
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Disney, $7,202,086
7. Surf’s Up, Sony, $6,580,743
8. Shrek the Third, Paramount, $5,652,585
9. Nancy Drew, Warner Bros., $4,379,447
10. A Mighty Heart, Paramount Vantage, $3,948,863