Bridesmaids Trumps “Sex And The City” To Set Box Office Record

Guys and dolls just can’t get enough of Bridesmaids — which explains why the cinema sidesplitter has surpassed Sex and the City to become the highest-grossing R-rated, female-driven comedy of all-time.

Hmmm…the phrase “Girls Rule, Boys Drool” springs to mind.

The film, which stars Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph and follows a group of women as they prepare for their friend’s wedding, has now earned $152.9 million at the North American box office, eclipsing the $152.6 million earned by Sex back in the Summer 2008.

The Judd Apatow production has also earned acclaim as Universal Pictures’ most successful romantic comedy ever, a much-needed boost for the ailing studio. Universal’s other 2011 comedy releases — among them The Dilemma, Paul, and Your Highness — have failed to make much of an impact at the box office. The crude comedy — a genre generally reserved for gents — has already become Judd Apatow’s most successful venture so far, trumping the domestic takes of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ($148.2 million) and Knocked Up ($148.8 million).

“There’s an enormous neglected community of moviegoers who want to see films like this,” Apatow told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s great that [now] there’s proof that there is a big market — and proof that men want to see movie[s] about women.”