The highly publicized battle between Get Smart and The Love Guru, this weekend’s only two major releases, failed to materialize.  Get Smart took the top spot with $39.2 million, while the Love Guru was all the way down at number four, with $14 million.  Apparently the average schmoe hated it as much as the critics.

But don’t get too excited, because Get Smart was almost as bad, but because it made so much money, everyone involved will be bending over backwards to pat themselves on the back, or doing some other kind of metaphorical thing that would make sense.  Industry analysts are also making logic jumps that can only be described as Shyamalan-esque.

Critics picked apart the [Get Smart] for emphasizing action over the crisp verbal comedy of the TV show, but Warner Bros. figures that was a wise commercial move. While 60 percent of the audience was 25 or older, that still meant a sizable younger crowd that was more keen on the movie’s action, said Dan Fellman, the studio’s head of distribution. [AP]

Yeah, either that or people saw it because it was the only thing out besides Love Guru.  But that’s the beauty of numbers, they allow even people with no common sense to draw conclusions.  How egalitarian. (Not to be confused with eaglitarians, which is what I am).

Get Smart, $39.2 million
Kung Fu Panda, $21.7 million
The Incredible Hulk, $21.6 million
The Love Guru, $14 million
The Happening, $10 million
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, $8.4 million
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, $7.2 million
Sex and the City, $6.5 million
Iron Man, $4 million  
The Strangers, $1.9 million