Carell and Fey Edge out Ancient Greeks

Two of NBC’s biggest stars from “The Office” and “30 Rock” have paired together for box office supremacy.
Carell and Fey Edge out Ancient Greeks
Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in 'Date Night,' about a married couple from the suburbs that find themselves in for a far more adventurous night than they bargained for. Myles Aronowitz/Twentieth Century Fox
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<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/carell_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/carell_medium.jpg" alt="Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in 'Date Night,' about a married couple from the suburbs that find themselves in for a far more adventurous night than they bargained for. (Myles Aronowitz/Twentieth Century Fox)" title="Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in 'Date Night,' about a married couple from the suburbs that find themselves in for a far more adventurous night than they bargained for. (Myles Aronowitz/Twentieth Century Fox)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-103332"/></a>
Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in 'Date Night,' about a married couple from the suburbs that find themselves in for a far more adventurous night than they bargained for. (Myles Aronowitz/Twentieth Century Fox)
Two of NBC’s biggest stars from “The Office” and “30 Rock” have paired together for box office supremacy this past weekend. Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a married couple out on a date, when a case of mistaken identity sets them up for an adventure and lots of laughs.

Critics agreed that what makes “Date Night” so endearing is the charms of its two leads. This past weekend, fans concurred with the critics and turned out to see their favorite small-screen stars.

Its unusual for a comedy to beat out blockbusters at the box office, but with no other major films released this weekend, “Date Night” slightly edged out the previous weekend’s leader, “Clash of the Titans.”

The two films earned $27.1 million and $26.9 million respectively, in a weekend were box office numbers were slightly down from the this same time last year. In fact, the margin of victory for “Date Night,” which is based on early studio estimates, was so close to those for “Clash,” that some Hollywood insiders are calling the race a draw.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/romantic_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/romantic_medium.jpg" alt="Janet Jackson and Malik Yoba in Tyler Perry's 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' The film had a strong second week at the box office. (Quantrell Colbert/ Lionsgate )" title="Janet Jackson and Malik Yoba in Tyler Perry's 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' The film had a strong second week at the box office. (Quantrell Colbert/ Lionsgate )" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-103333"/></a>
Janet Jackson and Malik Yoba in Tyler Perry's 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' The film had a strong second week at the box office. (Quantrell Colbert/ Lionsgate )
Coming in at a close third place was the animated 3-D film “How to Train Your Dragon.” The children-marketed movie is that rare production akin to last year’s “Up,” that adults find equally entertaining. It earned around $25 million, bringing its three-weekend total to $133.9 million.

In a distant fourth and fifth place with $11 million and $10 million were Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married Too?” and Miley Cyrus vehicle “The Last Song.” Both films were in their second week of release.

Generally speaking, studios are still holding their big releases for another month when the summer blockbuster season will kick-off with the sequel to “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey Jr. and “Robin Hood” starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.