With a little help from a made-in-Hollywood controversy, the new Dane Cook-Kate Hudson romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Girl" from Lionsgate figures to be one of this weekend's main box-office draws.
The R-rated film, produced for an estimated $20 million after tax rebates, could fight for No. 1 with Sony Pictures' new PG-13 thriller "Lakeview Terrace," starring Samuel L. Jackson as a tightly wound L.A. cop trying to scare away the interracial couple living next door, and the Coen brothers' holdover spy comedy "Burn After Reading," from Focus Features. Each should haul in $12 million or more.
Comedian-actor Cook made headlines in mid-August when he posted a lengthy diatribe on his MySpace page excoriating his movie's poster. "Whoever photoshopped our poster must have done so at taser point with three minutes to fulfill their hostage takers' deranged obligations," Cook groused, calling it an injustice to a film in which he and costars Hudson, Alec Baldwin and Jason Biggs "really kicked the funny around."
The budding art critic quipped that he looked to be "wearing Maybelline Water Shine Diamonds Liquid Lipstick," that his high collar was "going for the vampire lurking in the castle basement vibe," and that he appeared "able to turn my head comfortably 360 degrees, because I was raised in an abandoned barn by a family of owls."
Projector, who was born at night, not last night, thinks the savvy but shameless self-promoter doth protest too much -- except that it has paid off with publicity and link love.
Websites including EW.com, Huffington Post and People.com picked up on Cook's rant. The blog Hollywood Elsewhere said he deserved "points for fearlessly ripping into" the poster, "and for being funny in the bargain." Most of the 1,200-plus comments on Cook's MySpace page were like this one: "you soo funnny but i just seen the poster. the photoshop looks bad :( but i cant wait to see the movie!"
Lionsgate executives declined to comment on the stunt -- er, impromptu kerfuffle -- and Cook, perhaps busy lurking in his basement, could not be reached.
Other new releases include the animated, PG-rated "Igor" from Exodus Film Group and MGM, which might take advantage of the recent lull in the family movie market with a respectable opening, and DreamWorks Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13 comedy "Ghost Town," starring Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear.
