In a serious embarrassment to Myers, whose "Austin Powers" movies were hugely successful, the "Love Guru" was placed fourth this week on the box office listings. "Kung Fu Panda" from Paramount and DreamWorks Animation was placed No. 2 ($21.7 million in ticket sales) in its second weekend, and "The Incredible Hulk" from Marvel and Universal Pictures took the third spot ($21.6million).

A weak opening for "The Love Guru" was a setback for Paramount too, which has otherwise dominated the spring-summer box office with hits like "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Indian American M. Night Shyamalan's spooky thriller "The Happening" took in another $10 million over the weekend, raising its total revenue so far to about $50.3 million.

Before its release, "The Love Guru", about the antics of India-reared American guru named Pitka, kicked up a controversy with some Hindu leaders suspecting that it "lampooned "Hinduism. But after watching the film, both Indian American media and Hindu organisations such as Iskcon and Hindu American Foundation found nothing offensive in it and asked Hindus to view it with a "pinch of salt and a good sense of humour".