‘Ace’ Has Lots Of Yuks And Bucks

Either audiences keep getting dumber and dumber or Jim Carrey keeps getting smarter and smarter about how to make them laugh. Whatever, the rubber-faced comedian’s new movie, “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls,” swept to the year’s highest-grossing opening - and sixth-best of all time.

Figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. indicate that the second “Ace Ventura” comedy amassed some $37.8 million over the weekend.

That was the best non-summer opening in history and far better than the $7.6 million grossed by “Get Shorty,” the film that had been No. 1 for three straight weeks.

Apparently not wanting to go up against the “Ace Ventura” juggernaut, producers of such highly hyped films as “Casino” and “Money Train” moved their products back to Thanksgiving week openings.

That left the leftovers to vie for what remained of the box office market. Those still doing well include No. 3 “Copycat” ($4.8 million), No. 4 “Powder” ($4.1 million) and No. 5 “Home For the Holidays” ($3.3 million).

The most notable aspect to the newest “Ace Ventura,” however, is not its overall take. Anything showing in 2,652 locations is bound to make money. Even so, Carrey’s silly and occasionally vulgar comedy proved amazingly popular at each location - earning an average of $14,255.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo