Friday Box Office – FUNNY PEOPLE Brings in $8.6 Million on First Friday

Judd Apatow easily won Friday with the debut of his third R-rated comedy, “Funny People”.  Good news, right?  Well, sort of.  An $8.6 million first day puts “Funny People” smack in the middle of Apatow’s past releases – “The 40 Year Old Virgin” had a $7 million Friday in 2005 while “Knocked Up” brought in $9.8 million in 2007.  Universal would have liked to see those numbers go a bit higher for the high profile “Funny People”, though they were careful to manage expectations by lowering their projections to $25 million earlier this week.  After day one it looks like Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler may have some trouble getting to that figure, unless word of mouth puts some Apatow-sized legs under the film quick.  Updates on “Funny People” and the week’s other new releases await when you check back tomorrow…