Smith's Hancock No Legend | Christie's Cook-Out | Lionel Richie In The Rain
Will Smith's "Hancock" is no super hero at the box office.
If numbers hold up, "Hancock" will finish a five-and-a-half-day July 4th weekend with just under $100 million. That's about equal to what his last movie, "I Am Legend," did last December. The only difference is that "Legend" did that without the advantage of a long holiday weekend.
The other difference is that on "Legend"'s opening night it took in around $30 million. "Hancock" has done very well, but nothing like that. On Friday night it did an estimated $18 million — and that may be an over-estimate.
"Hancock" cost $150 million to make, so the break even for costs won't even come until maybe next Friday (June 11). Even then, it's not like there's been a mass movement in the film's direction. If anything, the minor success of this odd summer "blockbuster' has come more from little competition than any audience clamoring to see it.
Meantime, while "Hancock" has struggled so too has "The Incredible Hulk." The Friday numbers brought the total to date to $123 million — very disappointing. And Mike Myers's "The Love Guru" is a total flop at $28 million. On the positive side, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" has passed the $300 million mark. "Iron Man" has done the same thing, taking a little longer than Indy, but nevertheless establishing itself and need for sequels. Too bad Robert Downey Jr.'s cameo at the end of "Hulk" didn't help more!
Christie Brinkley wanted husband Peter Cook out of her life. What better day for a "cook out" then, than the 4th of July — Independence Day?
Brinkley spent the 4th at a cook out with ex-hubby Billy Joel, his wife Katie Lee, and Christie and Billy's daughter, Alexa at the Joels' Hamptons estate. It was a last minute decision, I'm told, since Brinkley has been holed up all weekend since the conclusion of testimony on Thursday in her divorce trial.
Meanwhile, estranged husband Peter Cook took to the low road and the high seas on Friday. He picked up stepson Jack for a pre-arranged visit, then paraded him around Sag Harbor like a prize along with his bikini clad girlfriend. For a man who wants to get custody of Jack and daughter Sailor he's certainly going at it without much finesse.
Cook made himself available to reporters and paparazzi, but made two mistakes. For one thing, the boat he's sailing around — called Sweet Freedom — belongs to Brinkley until the divorce is over. Second, insiders say it was Brinkley who named their daughter "Sailor" and not Cook at all.
The big tent was all set up on Saturday afternoon on the Guyer Rd., Water Mill estate of Michael Hirtenstein. That's where, abutting the Southampton Polo Club, the Joe Meil produced Lionel Richie show and dinner was supposed to take place. Tickets were $1,250 and included a dinner prepared by Tom Colicchio.
The concert had been moved from Sag Harbor from another Hirtenstein location called The Estate when neighbors complained. But what a mess at the new venue! As of 5 p.m. it was raining hard in the Hamptons, meaning Hirtensein's place should have been renamed The Mud Club!
Insiders are wondering though how much Richie must get for a private show if tickets were $1,250 and only 250 people were invited. Even if sponsors kicked in the rest and Richie got $300,000 for the night, none of the math quite works out. It sounds so similar to Meli's debacle of last summer, when his concert promoting cost investor Edgar Bronfman Jr. between $18 and $30 million. You've got to ask: who needs that kind of aggravation — especially when Richie's agent, CAA, comes looking for its commission.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox