Paul Blart: Mall Cop Takes Top Spot for Weekend Boxoffice

Paul Blart:Mall Cop has surpassed all expectations, and even my 180 turnaround on it after catching a trailer make me think that a lot of people felt the same way.

Yahoo quotes Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony :

“We had a lot of screenings as well as tracking that was good on it. We were hopeful we could do in the range of $25 million for four days and that would have been a terrific result for us. But now it looks like we’re going to do $40 million for four days, and that is just, like, a ‘wow’ number,” Bruer said Sunday. “It totally speaks to just how much audiences love Kevin James, No. 1, and how hard he worked to promote this film.”

After proving his value as a sidekick to Will Smith in “Hitch” and Adam Sandler in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,” James shows here he can also be a reliable leading man, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracker Media by Numbers.

I really hope this hits a trend for Kevin James. I have always liked him in supporting roles or in stuff like his King of Queens for his genuine personality and everyday man charm. I had him pegged as always the bridesmaid, never the bride, but it looks like he might be stepping out on his own.

Good for you Mr James!