I was SUPERWRONG

‘Ol Judd Apatow had better be smiling right now. Superbad, his joint production with writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, has just grossed $31 million domestically over the weekend. Yes, $31 million — that’s higher than Apatow’s own film this summer, Knocked Up.

I ‘blogged on Thursday night, discussing how I thought Superbad wouldn’t be able to out-muster Knocked Up in its opening weekend because it had a more limited audience. I thought that, despite glowing reviews, the movie would only be able to draw in teenagers and people in their early 20s.

But, apparently, I was wrong. Either Superbad drew in every teenager over 17 in America this weekend, or adults got in on the fun too (which you wouldn’t know from the 8pm Friday screening I attended, where I couldn’t spot a soul over 20).

Given how good the movie was, I’m glad it had such broad appeal. The real test will be whether or not it will have legs. I’m still skeptical of this, especially given its schoolyard hype and the fact that kids will be going back to school over the next few weeks.

Knocked Up had legs because, frankly, it had better repeat value than Superbad. While the latter film isn’t all about jokes–my review details its very-human core–it’s much more humor-centric than the former film. I still don’t see Superbad grossing over $85 million by the end of its run at the American box office.

But I was wrong once and I could be wrong again. Sue me.

In other news, The Invasion and The Last Legion bombed. Clearly, I wasn’t a good person to listen to about the box-office this weekend.

Lots of movies opening this upcoming Friday; maybe I’ll be able to redeem myself predicting their grosses. Stay tuned.