G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra movie image - Channing Tatum as Duke (1).jpg

In this, the summer of diminishing expectations, my hopes for Paramount's pricey "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" were not very high. But it turns out that I need not have feared for the real American hero. "GI Joe" opened to an impressive $22.3 million from 4,007 locations - an August record for non-sequels. Sony's anti-Joe option, "Julie & Julia", came in second with $6.5 million from 2,975 venues while "Funny People", last week's number one movie, fell a disturbing 70% to number four.  It could be worse.  The latest from director Judd Apatow could have ended up down at number seven like the new Rogue thriller "Perfect Getaway".  Check back tomorrow to see how much sadder things get for the funny folk...

Title

Friday

Total

1

GI Joe

$22,300,000

$22,300,000

2

Julie & Julia

$6,500,000

$6,500,000

3

G-Force

$3,000,000

$79,300,000

4

Funny People

$2,600,000

$35,200,000

5

Harry Potter 6

$2,550,000

$267,500,000