Mike Myers is a big name in Hollywood. But just how big? The first ‘Austin Powers’ in 1997 opened with $9.5 mill, the last in 2002 with $73 mill. But can he carry a new movie (character) into the twenties? The Friday box office numbers for the $62 million ‘The Love Guru’ don’t say so. It made an even lower than expected $5 million this Friday.

Steve Carell is a totally different story. He began to make a name for himself just a couple of years ago. He starred in some hits (‘Little Miss Sunshine’) and some mild flops (‘Evan Almighty’). But most of his movies didn’t flop as hard as ‘The Cat in the Hat,’ by his weekend competitor Myers. The first numbers for the $80 million TV adaptation are good though. Carell opened with about $14.5 million in ticket sales this Friday.

The last numbers indicate a good weekend for Carell and a low point for Myers. The final estimates for the weekend box office are a meager $14 million total for ‘The Love Guru’ and a decent $40 million for ‘Get Smart.’ Based on its budget + marketing, this isn’t looking good for Paramount (‘The Love Guru’). Time for another ‘Austin Powers,’ maybe?

We already saw how low the analysts set their expectations for this weekend, but what do the critics say? Is there any chance the reviews will benefit ‘The Love Guru.’ I really don’t think so. Maybe ‘Get Smart’? A slightly bigger chance. Let’s take a quick look at the actual quotes from the critics.

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Sadly there aren’t any new tracking numbers floating around. But we do have a better idea of what to expect, just a little over a day before release. Last week’s tracking numbers indicated a soft launch for both ‘The Love Guru’ and ‘Get Smart,’ with the last one tracking a little higher. And while the expectations for Steve Carell’s movie are still in line with last week, Mike Myers doesn’t seem to be doing so well.

Both are rumored to have about the same budget, $80 million, but ‘The Love Guru’ might struggle to make some profit in the US alone. Most analysts are expecting a $20-$25 million opening, but some say it might not even top $20 million. An opening in the high teens will definitely be considered a failure by Paramount and won’t do Myers’ future projects any good.

‘Get Smart’ is doing better and would end the coming weekend with a little under $40 million. We will take a look at the reviews tomorrow, when most of the quotes are in, but it looks like the critics are projecting the same view. The first ‘The Love Guru’ reviews are burning and ‘Get Smart’ is doing just a little bit better. No, this won’t be a big weekend.