Jessica Simpson Jumps the Shark?

Jessica Simpson is being criticized by some for her film 'Employee of the Month' as the film finished in fourth place for the weekend.  Deadline Hollywood Daily's ever reliable Nikki Finke opines that Jessica has 'jumped the shark' with disappointing box opening numbers for her pic Employee of the Month.

Jessica Simpson Jumps the Shark?

But 'Box Office Prophets' disagrees writing:

"Employee of the Month, from those shrewd folks at Lionsgate. Inexplicably, Lionsgate has another hit on their hands, as Employee beat all expectations, earning $11.8 million over its first three days. Released to 2,579 venues, the Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson comedy earned a venue average of $4,575."

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John Hamann muses:

"Now I don't know about you, but I couldn't pick Dane Cook out of a police lineup, so I'm going to give the credit here (begrudgingly) to Jessica Simpson. Her outfit helped get the Dukes of Hazard up over a $30 million opening, and I'd say the same thing happened here. The big winner with Employee of the Month, though, is Lionsgate, as the company spent only $12 million making it."

"Employee of the Month will disappear quickly, but like the company's Saw and Madea franchises, it's the opening that matters."

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Jessica may not be able to carry a big-budget film, but she indeed can still draw interest towards a movie.  She bragged earlier that she was happy not to be in a bikini for the film - but just think of the numbers if she was scantily clad in 'Employee of the Month.'

It may be a bit too soon to claim Jessica's movie career is finished.

--Angela Carson writes from Vancouver