Movie Releases, 7/14

First, a note:

Even though "stuffy" types like me didn't like it, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest just made $132 million this weekend, destroying Spider-Man's opening weekend in 2002 by $17-18 million or so. And it even sold a few more tickets, so inflation be damned!

And the weekend as a whole, the top 12 made over $200 million for the first time ever and beat last year's weekend take by nearly 50%. I don't know if I hear the slump talk anymore, as hard as some media outlets try.

Anyway, this week's contenders kick off a slew of comedy releases. Likely coming in a distant second to Pirates' second weekend will be Little Man, from the creators of White Chicks, something I never thought I'd see in an advertisement. But, Keenan Ivory Wayans's comedy, starring brothers Marlon and Shawn, made $70 million back in 2004 and sold like 4 million DVD copies, so who can argue? This one has Marlon playing a midget crook who is mistaken for their adopted baby by a couple (Kerry Washington and Shawn Wayans) and taken in...with hilarious results! Look for jokes about how large Marlon's manhood looks, and lots of dirty shenanigans from the "baby," which constitute most of the trailer's gags.

And, if black people can have a comedy about unwanted visitors into a home, then white people can too. It's You, Me, & Dupree, starring Owen Wilson as the jobless miscreant who wrecks newlywed couple Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson's happy life. The trailers for this actually look terribly bad--very forced humor. In fact, the funniest parts of the trailers are scenes that are likely to run right past most would-be viewers' heads--like Wilson interviewing for a job and turning it down based on having to work Columbus Day. This will be competing with the sinking Superman Returns, and the solid Devil Wears Prada, for that third place spot.