Despite an intense marketing push, Will Ferrell's latest sports comedy just couldn't hold up to his previous two efforts. Semi-Pro did take the number one spot at the box office this weekend, but it did so with a measly $15 million. Compared to last year's Blades of Glory (opened with $33 million) and Talladega Nights (opened with $47 million), that $15 million doesn't look so great -- and it's certainly not the way New Line wanted to go out (even though they are, technically, going out on top).

So why didn't anyone go see this film? Granted, people did go see it (enough for $15 million), but it played in over 3,000 theaters. Did the R rating actually hurt the film? Keep in mind, both Blades and Talladega Nights were PG-13 -- so did a raunchy, foul-mouthed Ferrell keep audiences away? Or was it the supporting cast? Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin aren't Jon 'Napoleon Dynamite" Heder and Sacha "Borat" Baron Cohen. Did Ferrell need a little more juice around him in order to score bigger buckets? Maybe the whole '70s basketball thing wasn't so appealing? I guess the bigger question should be: Does this $15 million opening signal the beginning of the end of Ferrell's reign over the box office?

Why did you stay away from Semi-Pro, which I heard was actually pretty damn funny?

Wow, it's been almost nine whole months since a Will Ferrell movie was released. Fortunately, Access Hollywood has just given us the first look (not counting this one) at his next comedy, Semi-Pro, and the trailer should be enough to tide us over until the movie actually hits theaters at the end of February (just in time to get some kind of promotion at the Oscars, I'm sure). Semi-Pro is another sports comedy, completing a nice quartet following Kicking & Screaming (soccer) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (NASCAR) and this year's Blades of Glory (figure skating). This one is about a basketball player named Jackie Moon, who also coaches and owns the Flint Tropics, an American Basketball Association team hoping to be brought into the NBA. Like way too many comedies, it takes place in the '70s, giving it a sort of recycled feel if you've ever seen Ferrell's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy or enjoyed an afro-ed Chevy Chase in Fletch (which I know was from the '80s).

But some of the trailer shows promise, and there's no doubt that Ferrell will make you laugh with this movie, at least if you typically find him funny. Many of the lines uttered in the promo even sound made up on the spot, rather than scripted by the movie's writer, Scot Armstrong (Old School). So, if you like that weird, random humor stuff, you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and fans of bear wrestling, parodies of Evel Knievel (r.i.p.) stunts, jokes about using your child as a shield, long-tired disco gags and funny hairdos -- in addition to Ferrell's afro, Woody Harrelson has a 'do that gives his No Country for Old Men co-star Javier Bardem a run for his money -- will certainly enjoy the movie, too.

[via Slashfilm]

If you're like me, you're always waiting for Will Ferrell to top himself. He's a great improv actor, albeit one who could be deemed a "ball hog" (if you know your basketball terms), but he knows how to entertain an audience and bring in the box office bucks. This winter he'll be returning for another sports-related comedy, Semi-Pro, in which he plays Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the ABA's Flint Michigan Tropics. A new teaser for the film has arrived over on Funny or Die and, while there's not much, we do get a nice slice of Ferrell's naked body. (Warning: Eat before watching, unless hairy guys with a gut turn you on.)

Based on the teaser, it seems Ferrell's tapping back into some of his Ricky Bobby material from Talladega Nights, only take that character, place him right smack in the middle of the 70s, and give him a giant afro. Personally, Ferrell just makes me laugh no matter what he's doing; some are tired of his shtick, but I can't get enough of it. If he can surround himself with some decent comedic talent -- folks he'll allow to step up and share some of the spotlight -- then I can certainly see this flick becoming a winner. Co-starring with Ferrell will be Woody Harrelson, Outcast's André Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Jackie Earle Haley, Andy Richter and, of course, how can you forget Will Arnett. Semi-Pro bounces into theaters on February 29, 2008 -- and you can check out the teaser above.

Whenever I see the word 'auction' somewhere, I immediately know my broke ass won't be able to afford whatever it is they're auctioning off. So until I see the headline: Will Ferrell Randomly Gives 'Step Brothers' Role to Editor of Cinematical.com, I'll have to settle for reporting on the auctions, and not bidding. But if you do have some cash to spare, you enjoy Will Ferrell's films, and would love to brag to your friends that you're "in the New Will Ferrell Flick!!" -- then this could be right up your alley. According to BBC News, Ferrell is auctioning off a cameo role (Guy in Bathroom Stall #2?) in Step Brothers, the next Ferrell/Adam McKay big-screen collaboration. All proceeds will go to Cancer for College, which is a fantastic little charity that helps provide college scholarships to current and former cancer patients. And as Ferrell notes: "What a perfect Christmas present for your son or daughter. It is the surefire way to win the present of the year award. Support this amazing cause by buying them me."

Written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and directed by McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights), Step Brothers stars Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two guys who become competitive step brothers following the marriage of their single parents. Ferrell and Reilly last squared off against one another as friends-turned-enemies in Talladega Nights, and I'm sure there will be a lot more of that hysterical back-and-forth in this latest project. And speaking of projects, I think Ferrell just had a great idea for his next film -- some actor looking for extra cash auctions himself off to the highest bidder. Oh wait, Brett Ratner already went there. Perhaps he can direct then?

It's been quite awhile since we first and last heard about Adam McKay's Step Brothers, an R-rated comedy that will reunite the director's Talladega Nights duo, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (cementing Reilly's placement in the "Frat Pack") and will be overseen by that film's producers, Judd Apatow and Jimmy Miller. Joining the leads, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is Adam Scott, who recently played the male nurse in Apatow's Knocked Up and Oscar-winner Mary Steenburgen, who co-starred with Ferrell in Elf.

In Step Brothers, Ferrell and Reilly play -- what a shocker -- immature guys who become stepbrothers and best friends when their parents marry. Scott has been cast as Ferrell's younger, more successful brother and Steenburgen is their mom. Still no word on who plays Reilly's father, who I assume will be marrying Steenburgen's character. Other cast members reportedly include Andrea Savage (Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man) as Ferrell's therapist, and someone named Katherine Hahn (could it be Knocked Up costumer Catherine Hahn?) as Adam Scott's character's wife.

Steenburgen seems way too young to play mother to Will Ferrell, who is only 14 years her junior, but this won't be the first time such close-age parental casting has occurred (the craziest was Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey -- two years apart -- in The Manchurian Candidate). Still, the actress is one of my favorite motherly actresses, mainly thanks to Parenthood and even Back to the Future III -- her schoolmarm character seems like a mom even if she isn't, at least not until the animated series. Now if Apatow could just get her Parenthood husband, Steve Martin, to play Ferrell's step-dad, I could really get behind this movie. Apatow could be just the guy to re-boost Martin's once-funny career.

One of the perks of going on Christmas vacation away from home is that you find yourself reading papers in cities that you normally wouldn't stumble across normally. This week I managed to find Kristian Lin's wonderfully written "Ricky Bobby's Guide to Life (Or At Least The Movies) -- How Talladega Nights Explains the Year in Cinema" in the Fort Worth Weekly, a free paper in this part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

It's a great article that takes quotes from the movie (which I got for my brother as a Christmas present) and applies them to life, and cinematic offerings from the past year. He touches on just about every film offered up in 2006, including lesser seen fare like the Argentinian film The Aura, and the Iraqi war documentary The War Tapes, which both deserve a much wider audience.

Who knew that Ricky Bobby carried so much wisdom in his words? As much as we'd like to tip our bestickered helmet to the man who wants to go fast, Mr. Lin deserves the lion's share of the credit for this list which manages to be both humorous and thoughtful at the same time. It's not only a lesson in life, but a good year's end guide to the films of 2006, some of which you might never have even heard of. Give it a read, and start updating your rental lists and hitting the theaters.

Barnyard: The Original Party Animals -- Only worth renting if your kids have already seen The Ant Bully, Flushed Away, Happy Feet, Ice Age 2, Open Season, Over the Hedge and The Wild. (At least three times apiece.) Plot: A bunch of cows do silly things in a barnyard. Extras include filmmaker commentary, four featurettes, seven deleted scenes, two music videos, etc.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- You know how New Line released those really nifty "extended edition" DVDs for The Lord of the Rings? Yeah, well Disney liked that idea so here comes the mega-huge Narnia release, complete with seven additional minutes of in-movie footage, three lengthy audio commentaries, and two full discs over-stuffed with lions and witches and wardrobes, oh my.

The Devil Wears Prada -- The chick-flick version of Hostel. Anne Hathaway plays a "fat girl" who allows herself to be abused by the evil boss Meryl Streep just long enough to earn an oh-so-important life lesson. Extras include a filmmaker commentary, four featurettes, a bunch of deleted scenes and other random trinkets.

Material Girls -- One of the worst studio releases of the past 15 years. Stunningly bad. Highly recommended, however, if you happen to be a member of the Duff family. Anyone who can make it more than 15 minutes into Martha Coolidge's audio commentary has the fortitude of an Egyptian pyramid-builder. Featurettes and music videos are also included.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby -- Will Ferrell brings his patented brand of stream-of-consciousness goofiness to the easy-target world of NASCAR, and the result is a movie just as funny as we expected it to be. OK, so it's not Anchorman, but it's still packed with laughs. (Plus John C.Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amy Adams are actually allowed to steal a few scenes, with makes me think even more of Ferrell as a comedian.) Snag the unrated edition for extra footage and a truckload of commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, bloopers, promos and more assorted silliness.

World Trade Center -- The year's second 9/11 movie takes a decidedly different approach than its predecessor (United 93) and turns out to be one of Oliver Stone's more accessible projects. The horrible date is re-captured in chillingly realistic fashion, the performances are pretty great across the board, and the extra features (in the 2-disc commemorative edition) are as informative as they are entertaining. Fans of the film can pick through two separate audio commentaries and a second disc filled with mini-documentaries on the film, the survivors and the event itself.

Sony Pictures announced Thursday that for the first time, they will exceed $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales this year. This isn't any kind of record, though; other studios have surpassed the $3 billion mark before (three times before, in fact), but it's still good news for Sony -- and it is only one aspect of their amazing year at the box office. Their domestic take for 2006 is expected to pass the industry record of $1.573 million, an amount and record they reached back in 2002, for any studio in a single year. Another industry record they've already broken this year is for the number of releases to open at #1. So far, this number is 12, but Sony still has two more titles (The Holiday and The Pursuit of Happyness) to release before the year ends.

For the third time in the past five years, Sony will likely finish out the year with the greatest domestic market share for box office gross. The major contributor to Sony's success in 2006 was The Da Vinci Code, which had an international gross of more than $750 million. Other titles that helped out include Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Casino Royale and, surprisingly, The Pink Panther (hey, that's two remakes that originally starred Peter Sellers!).

Overall 2006 has been a seemingly good year for the motion picture industry, especially considering all the commotion last year over the "Great 'Slump' of '05". And yet, according to Box Office Mojo the total domestic gross for all movies in 2006 is right now $500 million less than the total of 2005 -- though some reports say that this year is up 4% over last year (not a big deal since '05 was down 6% from '04). Thankfully, B.O.M. has a handy YTD comparison, so we can actually see how 2006 stands so far against the same point in years '02 thru '05, and comparatively we're experiencing maybe only the third best year in five. We still have a few weeks left until the year closes, and a lot of movies are coming out in those few weeks, so the final tally could possibly outdo 2004's or 2003's grosses, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Hoping to cash in on the current fascination with crime scenes and the CSI onslaught, Amy Adams will appear in Sunshine Cleaning, an indie film about two sisters who decide to open a crime scene cleaning business and manage to find themselves in the process. Directing duties will be shared by Karen Moncrieff and Christine Jeffs based on a script by Megan Holley. Still no official word on whether Emily Blunt will join Adams, but we're certainly keeping our eyes open.

Adams is best known as the braces-wearing redhead who starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, managing to steal every scene she was in. If you were lucky enough to catch her Oscar-nominated role in Junebug, you'd see her doing that same thing in that film, minus the braces. She has an infectious spirit and smile, and has most recently appeared in Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby and The Office.

It has to be slightly intimidating trying to chew up scenery while sharing screen space with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio as Spielberg puts you through the paces, but she makes it look easy. It's only been six short years since she first appeared in Psycho Beach Party (yes, we ain't lying about that one), but she has come a long way since. Adams will appear in three films in 2007, including a voice role in Underdog, where she'll be playing Polly Purebred, Underdog's true love. Oh, and if they decide to make a twenty-something sequel to Annie, someone had better call Amy Adams.

After Disney and Mark Wahlberg ran off with the top numbers at the box office last weekend, Invincible managed to snag the top spot yet again, taking in an estimated $15.2 million -- lifting the film to an 11-day total of $37.8 million. Jason Statham's adrenalin-fueled Crank managed to out-duel Nic Cage's remake of The Wicker Man by sliding into the weekend's second spot with $13 million, while the latter picked up $11.7 million to round out the top three.

Little Miss Sunshine continued to live up to its name as "the little summer indie that could" by finishing fourth with $9.7 million, bringing its total to $35.8 million. However, Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (last week's number two film) ran smack into a slew of Labor Day traffic, forcing the Will Ferrell laffer to fall way down into the sixth spot with $7.7 million. Crossover ($4.5 million) and Outcast's Idlewild ($2.9 million) failed to find an audience this weekend, as well as a comfy spot in the top ten. Oh, and those damn snakes have officially left the building. Thank God.

Full numbers after the jump.