Now if only they could combine them into one movie

By Steven Zeitchik

Every once in a while a weekend comes along that demonstrates everything about contemporary movie-releasing --  the good, bad and the puzzling. The frame just ended is one of those weekends, from the specialty to the broadly commercial, the tear-jerking to the chain-jerking. Sandler, Sex and the City, pandas and a big Russian epic....and they say the box office has lost its pluralism.

A few of the lessons:

*Messing with Adam -- Despite star openings being about as au courant as a Hillary for Prez button, Adam Sandler, whose "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" earned $40 million this weekend, continues to be one of those exceptions who prove rules. Put him in a  comedy -- and it does have to be a comedy -- and he 's pulled in at least a $34 million opening weekend for moves going all the way back to 2000.  That's a Nadal-like streak of six pictures. Of course the dramas are a different story, which means that he'll either continue to be pigeonholed or studios will be unhappy. Fortunately he's had only an occasional Clooney-esque pang for a statue...so far.

*Sex and the Television Brand -- Dick Wolf and David Chase, take note. Not only is a long-running television show not a liability -- it's a strength. We saw it last year with "The Simpsons," which despite still being on the air earned $184m domestic. We're seeing it this year with the continued box-office blowout of "SATC." This weekend's total of $21 million cumes the movie to $99 million, which should put admissions somewhere in the 10-15 million range. How willing are television viewers to check out a movie? That admissions number is nearly half of HBO's subscriber base.

*When Animals Attack -- They'll say it's Jack Black, but really, would the movie have fared any differently if it was, say, Jim Carrey? The real key here is that a well-reviewed animated tale will do exponentially more business than a poorly reviewed one. The kids will come anyway, but how many parents allowed themselves to be convinced by the good reviews? Last year it was Ratatouille and this year it's the furry one in black-and-white -- both show that a little quality goes a long way in animation box-office.

*Storming the Plains -- A two-hour Russian-language epic on Genghis Khan wouldn't seem like the kind of pic that could pack theaters.  But that's exactly what Oscar nominee "Mongol" did. As THR's Carl DiOrio notes, the movie drew a whopping $26,000 per screen. Early buzz on the trailer had it generating more whooping than a Crystal Skull spot, and now we know why. Call it "300" for the arthouse set, call it another period crossover for Picturehouse, call it an example of how language and length are no match for good filmmaking.

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