Weekend Box Office #67
When was the last time three movies opened wide on the same weekend, and all featured female leads?
Okay, CLOVERFIELD is a bit of a cheat; though actresses Lizzy Caplan and Jessica Lucas get top billing, this seems more due to the fact that the ensemble cast is listed alphabetically than there being the featured performers.
But both 27 DRESSES and MAD MONEY are both firmly female-driven, not only having female main characters, but also female writers and directors.
They are obviously out there as holiday-weekend counterprogramming to CLOVERFIELD, though it'll be interesting to see if they cannibalize each other, particularly with JUNO out there making another $10 million or so.
CLOVERFIELD (3411 theaters). Early word is that this is a bit thin but still effective. It's also really short; if you don't count the 10 minutes of closing credits, the movie itself is only 75 minutes long. Which will allow theaters to add an extra show or two a day. Look for this to be huge; Call it $51.1 million for the 4-day Martin Luther King weekend.
27 DRESSES (3057 theaters). The verdict is out on whether Katherine Heigl can carry a movie, but this one seems amiable enough. $12.2 million for the four days.
MAD MONEY (2470 theaters). This looks a bit too light and dumb, though Queen Latifah is liable to bring in a lot more viewers than either Diane Keaton or Katie Holmes (while it's hard to know how Diane's accidental dropping of the f-bomb on Good Morning America the other day will affect it, if at all). Figure about $7.8 million for the four days.
Woody Allen's latest, CASSANDRA'S DREAM, also opens today 107 theaters, starring two guys (Ewan MacGregor and Colin Farrell) who don't seem to be able to lure people to films that aren't great, and apparently this one isn't.
posted by Scott the Reader @ 7:02 AM
7 Comments:
I don't think Cloverfield is going to do as well as people think.
I think 27 Dresses is going to do very well. I predict that one to be the winner.
But then again, I usually suck at this game.
To me, 27 Dresses looks to be the predictable lets-try-our-best-not-to-be-creative type of movie that I absolutely hate. I like Katherine Heigl but this movie looks like crapola.
I think Cloverfield will do well mainly because of the marketing and the short run time. It looks interesting, but it's also kind of a gimmick.
Can't wait to see "27 Dresses." I'm hoping Katherine Heigl turns out to be the next Meg Ryan. (I love it when there's good news on the romantic comedy front)
I side with Matt, "Cloverfield" looks like a gimmick. But I did read in Seattle PI that what you do see of the monster is pretty cool.
LOVE looking at Katie Holmes, but the plot to "Mad Money" looks like a real stretch. But back to the the babe. Wish Katie Holmes wasn't married, AND that she had a thing for half Slovok, half Sweedish men. I'd be SOO on that!
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
Well, looks like I underestimated heavily.
Cloverfield did about $16.7 million on Friday. 27 Dresses did an impressive $7.6 million.
Mad Money only did $2.3 million.
I got in late on this, but it looks like Heigl can open a lame-looking rom-com (25-28 mil for 4 days, estimate).
Also, I think Cloverfield (46-50 mil estimate) looks like a fun monster/mayhem-through-the-city popcorn flick. Kinda like what Godzilla (The rainy Matty Broderick one) shoulda been.
saw cloverfield this morning...not sure what to think. Considering it was damn short, it felt rather longish (closer to 2 plus hrs). I was entertained, though I didn't really care about the characters.
I most likely will see Cloverfield when I have the time (hopefully by the end of the month), but friend reviews have been two on the harshly negative side (they hated the camerawork, and thought the characters and story were worthless), one has been on the fence (he thought the characters were blah, the camerawork only slightly bothersome, but everything else fine), and one who was ecstatic about it (loved everything).
I'll probably end up agreeing with that middle guy.
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