Will Ferrell

More box office records crumbled as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight continued its vertiginous climb. Heath Ledger's psychotic Joker seduced viewers nationwide to the tune of $75.6 million this weekend, making his movie the country's favorite once again—and by a $45.6 million margin. Here in Gotham's real-world counterpart, The Dark Knight claimed $1.1 million in sales—a full $772,704 over second-place Step Brothers.

The Times tells us The Dark Knight's $75.6 million is "the best second-weekend gross in recent Hollywood history." (An impressive figure for sure, though we wonder just how "recent.") And with $314.2 million in domestic sales since its July 18 opening, The Dark Knight also scored a record for the highest-grossing opening ten days in Hollywood history.  read more »

Hey, slackers! Will Ferrell thinks it’s time to shape up … or ship out. “There is this phenomenon of grown children who either live at home or move back home,” said the comic actor, discussing the theme of his latest comedy, Stepbrothers, which co-stars John C. Reilly.

It was Monday, July 21, and Mr. Ferrell, a cuddly 41, was hunched in the corner at a party on the Empire Hotel’s rooftop—hosted by Maxim magazine following a private screening of the movie—dressed in a green rugby shirt with the word “Ireland” printed across it, jeans and sneakers with orange reflector stripes. “There is this whole new wave of entitlement right now, and a lot of young people are like, ‘I don’t want to do just any job, it has to be a good job and what’s the starting salary?’” he continued.  read more »

In a turn of a events that will not help our fair city’s reputation as bookish and snobby, The Other Boleyn Girl (no. 1), based on the best-selling tome of the same name, handily beat out the Will Ferrell comedy Semi-Pro (no. 3), despite playing at two fewer theaters. Nationally, however, Boleyn’s buxom stars, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, and their shana punims were no match for the near-ubiquitous ad campaign for Semi-Pro, with Ferrell appearing in everything from Old Spice commercials to ESPN’s Sportscenter, counting down the top ten sports hair-dos. The comedy captured the top spot, while the drama ranked fourth behind Vantage Point (no. 2) and The Spiderwick Chronicles.  read more »

Gather ye party hats and give those kazoos a test run. It’s almost time to say goodbye to another year. And good riddance! (Just joshing—we love ya, 2007!) Here to bide the time—well, 2 minutes and 16 seconds—before the ball drops is a fitting video. The clip features a few celebrities—Will Ferrell, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Sean Hayes, Fegie and others—offering up their New Year’s resolutions for 2008. Mr. Ferrell, for one, nods to the healthy habits of our commander-in-chief; he plans to get at least 13 hours of sleep every night. Hey! If the W.G.A. strike labors on, that might prove an all-too-easy easy resolution to keep. Cheers.  read more »