A Barack Obama Film

After looking at Friday the 13's box office haul of $43 million (THR has it as $45.2 million) I checked out how the rest of the weekend movies fared. Pretty well:

THR: Collectively, the Presidents Day weekend registered a whopping $224 million in a record performance that surpassed last year's holiday haul by 34% and 2007's then-record tally by 19%, according to Nielsen EDI.

Yes, that economy. Quite a catastrophe. It's so bad that the American people dropped a quarter of a billion dollars on movies in 4 days. Note to Obama: need a stimulus plan? Do something useful and produce a Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

Think I'm crazy? Think about it: the president has a ton of Hollywood friends. Remember that dumb pledge video where all of the stars said they'd do his bidding? Time for those sanctimonious goofballs to put up. They'll work cheap. Imagine the screenwriters and directors who will be begging for a pitch meeting in the Oval Office. He'll have the pick of the best talent around. He can put "Produced by Barack Obama" on the movie posters. People will flip out. The lines will be huge. Every Obama zealot will go to see the thing, and the press will give it a load of free advertising. He is virtually guaranteed a nice profit, if not an outright blockbuster, and an Oscar is in the bag. He'll even be able to smoke in public, using one of those long cigarette holders like the old-time directors used to sport.

"A Barack Obama Film." That has a nice ring to it. It sounds like a cash register. The Chrysler bailout will be chump change, and anytime there's a scandal his press secretary can say, "The president's in his trailer," until it blows over.

If he puts his mind to it, he can do it. Yes, he can.