Deadline‘s Nikki Finke is reporting that last weekend’s box-ofice actuals have Cowboys & Aliens just barely nipping ahead of The Smurfs for the #1 position. Jon Favreau‘s somewhat disappointing, sensory-assault CG-aliens western made $36,431,290 compared to $35,611,637 for Sony’s odious animated family comedy.
A margin of just over $800,000 ain’t hay, but it’s not much overall.
I’m not sure that this technical victory matters all that much in the greater scheme because the shorthand Twitter legend — i.e., Cowboys & Aliens having been lasso’ed or hog-tied or stunned or otherwise humbled by this awful little family film — has already sunk in.
