tenacious d in the pick of destiny Tagged Articles at Cinematical

New Line decided to push back the release of Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny by one week in order to steer clear of Casino Royale and Happy Feet's openings, as well as to capitalize on a five-day Thanksgiving weekend. Did the move pay off? Hardly. Pic, which debuted on Wednesday, fell short of even landing in the top ten taking home a measly $3.3 million (counting Friday through Sunday only). So much for that whole destiny part, huh?

The big winners this weekend were, not surprisingly, Happy Feet ($37.9 million) and Casino Royale ($31 million) -- both of which finished number one and two respectively. The animated penguin flick crossed the $100 million mark in only 10 days, grossing an estimated $51.5 million over the course of all five days. Bond was not far behind, racking up $94.1 million throughout its first 10 days. The names Tony Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer and Denzel Washington were enough to land Deja Vu ($20.8 million) in third place, while the abysmal (according to Kim, at least) Deck the Halls captured the fourth spot with $12 million. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan continued to impress, as it too jumped into $100 million territory -- pic rounded out the top five with $10.4 million, for a grand total (so far) of $109.3 million after four weeks. As expected, Darren Aronofsky's latest trippy adventure, The Fountain, didn't do too well in its opening weekend, yet managed to snag the ten spot from Tenacious D with $3.7 million.

Full numbers (Friday through Sunday only) after the jump.

And we played the first thing that came to our heads,
Just so happened to be,
The Best Song in the World,
it was The Best Song in the World.
- Tenacious D, Tribute

It was back in 1994 when Jack Black and Kyle Gass first met as members of the Actor's Gang, an ensemble theater troupe founded by Tim Robbins. Up until that point, Black had appeared in small-ish parts in Airborne and Demolition Man, while Gass was barely noticeable in films like Jacob's Ladder and Brain Dead. Not long after that first meeting, the two discovered one very important thing they had in common: A love for rock and roll. Realizing they were far from a couple of gorgeous long-haired rockers, the two foregrounded their weaknesses while combining their love for comedy and music in a two-man band called Tenacious D. And, as they say -- the rest is history.

Shortly after performing their one and only song, Tribute, at Al's Bar in downtown Los Angeles, the duo garnered attention from comedian David Cross who subsequently helped Black and Gass land an appearance on Mr. Show. That led to three half-hour shorts on HBO, an album that quickly went platinum and a legion of fans who simply refer to their idols as "The D." Now, Black and Gass have somehow formed a story around the wacky, foul-mouthed lyrics to all their songs and used their pull in Hollywood to make a feature-length film called Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. But is it really destiny ... or just a waste of time?

Ahh, you gotta love viral marketing. While the above video features Jack Black going off on movie and music piracy, ("No cash, no inspiration. No inspiration, no rocket sauce. No rocket sauce, no kick ass rock n' roll music or movies. ...") it's really just a clever way of promoting his new film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. Look, I love Jack Black just as much as the next dude, but does anyone ever take this guy seriously? Oh wait, we're not supposed to take him seriously. Or are we? I'm confused. However, for some odd reason I really want to go see his new movie.

I've never actually listened to Tenacious D's music much (yes, for those not aware, they are a real band), but the flick looks fun. In the pic, Jack Black and Kyle Gass star as, well, themselves (I think) and we follow as they attempt to form the greatest band on the planet by breaking into a rock-and-roll museum to steal a magical guitar pick. Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny opens nationwide on November 22.

[via our good friends from The Digital Music Weblog and AdJab]