PBCS: America Loves Skinny Jonah Hill in “21 Jump Street”!

If you’re like me, you worried that Skinny Jonah Hill would never be as amusing as Fat Jonah Hill, particularly Fat Afro-ed Jonah Hill. But America proved me wrong this weekend, flocking to theaters to see Skinny Jonah in “21 Jump Street” thanks to the army of critics who cried out in unison, “Hey! This is a shockingly tolerable movie!” Let’s take a look at the returns (chart via Box Office Mojo).

1. 21 Jump Street - $35.0M
2. The Lorax - $22.8M
3. John Carter - $13.5M
4. Project X - $4.0M
5. A Thousand Words - $3.8M
6. Act of Valor - $3.7M
7. Safe House - $2.8M
8. Journey 2 - $2.5M
9. Casa De Mi Padre - $2.2M
10. This Means War - $3.8M

“21 Jump Street” also represents the first movie this year that was a legitimate hit with both critics and filmgoers alike. Many of the big earners this year have been pilloried by critics, but finally we have a movie that brought love from all quadrants. Thus, it easily topped our PBCS standings, which are derived from a secret proprietary formula that takes into account critical response, staying power and size of release:

1. 21 Jump Street – 410
2. The Lorax – 157
3. The Artist – 88
4. Silent House - 85
5. Friends With Kids – 23
6. Act of Valor - 21
7. Project X - 19
8. John Carter - 10
9. Safe House - 8
10. Good Deeds - 6

Say goodbye to “The Artist,” because it’ll finally fall below our $1 million threshold next week. I WILL NOT MISS YOU. Elsewhere, Will Ferrell’s new movie was too low of a grosser to make our list (it was also dismissed by many critics as less a movie than a goofy stunt). I argue that Ferrell’s movie easily could have been a higher grosser if it had gotten a major marketing push. Have you SEEN Genesis Rodriguez? She is not unattractive. Anyway, prepare for this list to be blown apart next week, when “The Hunger Games” finally drops. It’s already tracking well with critics. You’re gonna be seeing a whole lotta Katniss Everdeen for the rest of the year.

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