Day: July 16, 2008

This year, Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival has expanded to include a two-day Just Comedy industry confab to discuss the state of comedy and network and do all of those things that someone interested in taking their comedy career to the next step should be doing. Over the next two days (July 17-18), there will be keynote addresses, panels, workshops, pitch meetings, the customary Andy Kindler State of the Industry speech, celebrity discussions and a special fete for Judd Apatow, since the mainstream median and the comedy business clearly have anointed him as the guy who knows how to sell big-screen movies to the masses these days. Which makes it that much more worth noting, or, rather, looking back on the year so far in movies showcasing comedians. By the numbers. Because that’s how these industry types roll the dice, so to speak. The figures come courtesy of Box Office Mojo. The highest-grossing live-action comedy film of 2008 so far is…did you guess it yet? Get Smart. Oh, you probably missed it by that much, didn’t you? $112.6 million and still counting. Steve Carell, take a bow. Though it’s only the 11th most popular movie at the box office this year overall, and we still have some big flicks on the way. Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess With The Zohan didn’t exactly make Hollywood yearn for more Israeli spy...