WEEKEND BOX OFFICE 3/14: Robots Rule!

TOP STORY from VARIETY:
'Anacondas,' 'Hero' uncoil at B.O.
Two sequels bow wide over crowded weekend

By Gabriel Snyder

Four new wide releases are arriving this languorous late August weekend. Miramax finally releases Chinese martial arts dazzler "Hero" at 2,031 playdates. Sony has two films, the Screen Gems snake thriller "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" at 2,905 locations and Crystal Sky kidpic "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2" in 1,276. And Paramount releases Intermedia's "Suspect Zero" at 1,500 theaters.
"Hero" and "Anacondas" are the two most likely pics to claim the top B.O. spot. The most expensive Chinese film ever made with a budget of $31 million, "Hero" was a blockbuster when it was released in Asia in 2002 and has earned more than $104 million already.

Miramax acquired U.S. distrib rights on the heels of the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but the film is not expected to match that pic's $128 million domestic run. With the added bonus of a "Quentin Tarantino presents" credit, pic is expected to open in the vicinity of $10 million.

That's the same range where "Anacondas" is aiming. Pic is actually a sequel to the 1997 pic "Anaconda," which did a tidy $62.5 million domestically. Original opened at $16.6 million.

"If we're in the $9 million to $10 million range, we'll be happy," Sony distrib prexy Rory Bruer said. "Anything more than that we'll be very happy."

"Superbabies" is also expected to perform along the lines of its original, "Baby Geniuses," which rang up $27.3 million in 1999 after a $5.6 million opening.

Among the new limited releases, helmer Vince Gallo's much talked about but critically savaged "The Brown Bunny" finally arrives at theaters. Wellspring presents it on three screens in Gotham and L.A.

Other new pics include "Chooch," which Artistic License is bowing on three screens; First Run's "Bright Leaves," which starts exclusively at Gotham's Film Forum; and rodeo kidpic "Grand Champion," which Innovation debuts on five Lone Star State screens.

Pics expanding this weekend include Fox Searchlight's "Napoleon Dynamite," which jumps to 706 runs after crossing the $20 million mark, and "Garden State," which is widening to 745.

Lions Gate pushes "Danny Deckchair" into 24, up from four screens last weekend, and Paramount Classics is moving "Mean Creek" into 23 in its second week. Warner Independent is boosting "We Don't Live Here Anymore's" screen count by 61 for a total of 90 for its third weekend

WEEK BOX OFFICE FINAL
Aug. 20 - 26, 2004
Title (Distributor) Weekly/Engagements /This Week /Cumulative

1. Exorcist: The Beginning (WB) $24,085,989 2,803 $24,085,989
2. Without a Paddle (PAR) $19,157,229 2,730 $19,157,229
3. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (BV) $18,815,585 3,490 $66,981,760
4. Alien vs. Predator (FOX) $16,713,013 3,401 $67,265,624
5. Open Water (LIONSGATE) $15,421,309 2,709 $18,502,216
6. Collateral (DREAMWORK) $14,123,220 3,029 $73,688,271
7. The Bourne Supremacy (UNIV) $9,178,490 2,532 $153,102,730
8. The Manchurian Candidate (PAR) $5,647,803 1,920 $56,173,490
9. The Village (BV) $5,291,610 2,249 $108,617,876
10. Garden State (FOXSEARCH) $4,576,358 652 $8,065,807

I saw Hero for my hunny bunny's birthday, it was AWESOME!! Eveything was just so beautiful... All the colors were so bright and lively, and the culture (real or not) was just beautiful. I cried at some scenes. The best scenes were the fight scenes... Nameless vs. Sky, Nameless vs. Snow, Nameless vs. Broken Sword, Nameless vs. the empororer of Xin, Broken Sword vs. Snow, Snow vs. Moon... Oh my goodness ya'll gotta watch it... You can't get the same feeling from the cinema from your TV.

I have seen it and it is a very entertaining experience.

TOP STORY from Variety
Four line up to top 'Hero'
Pix hope to overcome Labor pains

By Gabriel Snyder

Four new films will labor over the long holiday weekend to make an impact on the box office.
Bowing this weekend is MGM romancer "Wicker Park" at 2,598 locations; 20th Century Fox's thriller "Paparazzi" (2,112); Lions Gate's laffer "The Cookout" (1,303); and Focus Features' awards contender "Vanity Fair" (1,051).

Once again, this weekend there is no clear favorite to displace last week's champ, "Hero." Indeed, Miramax's martial-arts dazzler has a chance to stay at the top in its second outing. Pic will add 61 theaters to its run today, for a total of 2,092.

After opening with $18 million, "Hero" is expected to put up a four-day total in the low teens, which distrib execs expect to be enough to win this slow late-summer weekend.

Distribs of all the newcomers would be thrilled if their pics pass $10 million, though not all are likely to cross that mark.

"Vanity Fair," an adaptation of the William Makepeace Thackeray novel starring Reese Witherspoon, bowed at 1,001 of its locations Wednesday, ringing up $606,901 for the day.

Though a modest start, numbers should pick up for the weekend. Midweek box office was down significantly this week as more kids returned to school and the summer season wraps. In fact, on Monday and Tuesday, the only pic to daily post higher than $1 million was "Hero." Focus has already begun an awards push for "Vanity Fair," helmed by Mira Nair, which adds some to the stakes of this weekend's perf.

On the limited side of the biz, IDP bows South Korean war drama "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War" on 29 screens. Roadside Attractions introduces another Sundance acquisition, "Remember Me, My Love," which stars Monica Bellucci, on two screens in Gotham. Sony Pictures Classics debuts "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" on four on both coasts and Regent Releasing starts "Yes Nurse, No Nurse" on three.

Bowing on one screen each in Gotham are First Run's "Persons of Interest," Small Planet's "Rockets Redglare!" and Artistic License's "Virgin."

Fox Searchlight and Warner Independent Pictures are looking to capitalize on the holiday weekend by aggressively expanding several of their pics. Searchlight's "Napoleon Dynamite" will add 180 screens, for a total of 886; its "Garden State" is tacking on 68 to bring its run to 813.

WIP is expanding Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset," now in its 10th week of release, by 109 theaters, for a total of 197. Naomi Watts and Mark Ruffalo starrer "We Don't Live Here Anymore" will add 100 screens in its fourth week to bring its run to 190.

WEEK BOX OFFICE FINAL from Variety
Aug. 27 - Sep. 2, 2004
Title (Distributor) Weekly Box Office/Screens/This Week Cumulative

1. Hero (MIRAMAX) $23,722,503 2,031 $23,722,503
2. Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (SONY) $15,852,278 2,905 $15,852,278
3. Without a Paddle (PAR) $11,682,763 2,730 $30,839,992
4. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (BV) $10,981,714 3,331 $77,963,474
5. Exorcist: The Beginning (WB) $9,449,191 2,813 $33,535,180
6. Collateral (DREAMWORK) $8,728,121 2,728 $82,416,392
7. Alien vs. Predator (FOX) $6,585,918 2,880 $73,851,542
8. Open Water (LIONSGATE) $6,575,481 2,709 $25,077,697
9. The Bourne Supremacy (UNIV) $6,352,370 2,079 $159,455,100
10. Suspect Zero (PAR) $4,705,540 1,500 $4,705,540


"Hero" forges ahead and "Without a Paddle" looks like it can rack up some numbers. "Exorcist" still has to be a dissapointment for the studio while "The Bourne Supremacy" turns into a bonefide blockbuster. "Open Water" for what it cost to make is amazing.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE
Sep. 3 - Sep. 6, 2004
Title / Engagements / Estimated Weekend Box Office
1. Hero (MIRAMAX) 2,092 $11.5
2. Without a Paddle (PAR) 2,756 $9.4
3. Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (SONY) 2,905 $8.0
4. Paparazzi (FOX) 2,115 $7.9
5. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (BV) 3,139 $7.3
6. Wicker Park (MGM/UA) 2,598 $6.8
7. Collateral (DREAMWORK) 2,348 $6.5
8. The Cookout (LIONSGATE) 1,303 $6.1
8. Vanity Fair (FOCUS) 1,051 $6.1
10. The Bourne Supremacy (UNIV) 1,718 $5.4


These are estimates and not the final reported weekend figures.

Notable is that "Exorcist: Beginning" has totally dropped off and looks headed for a quick DVD release.

A film from China still leads in the slowest end-of-Summer season in many years, "The Bourne Supremacy" racks up blockbuster figures but "Collateral" has to be disappointing for a Tom Cruise vehicle:

WEEK BOX OFFICE FINAL from Variety
Sep. 3 - 9, 2004
Title / Weekly Box Office / Screens /This Week Cumulative

1. Hero (MIRAMAX) $13,509,302 2,092 $37,231,805
2. Without a Paddle (PAR) $10,166,019 2,756 $41,006,011
3. Paparazzi (FOX) $9,234,915 2,115 $9,234,915
4. Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (SONY) $8,918,727 2,905 $24,771,005
5. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (BV) $8,362,834 3,139 $86,326,308
6. Wicker Park (MGM/UA) $7,922,924 2,598 $7,922,924
7. Collateral (DREAMWORK) $7,557,311 2,348 $89,973,703
8. Vanity Fair (FOCUS) $7,344,590 1,051 $8,482,325
9. The Cookout (LIONSGATE) $6,893,156 1,303 $6,893,156
10. The Bourne Supremacy (UNIV) $6,061,520 1,717 $165,516,620

("Exorcist: A New Beginning" which was not even offered up for review on Ebert and Roeper has died an early death and headed for DVD which will doubtfully pull it out of a hole, rentals to horror fans being the only hope for "A New Beginning" )

From Variety:

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE
Sep. 10 - Sep. 12, 2004
Title Screens Estimated Weekend Box Office

1. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (SONY) 3,284 $23.7
2. Cellular (NEW LINE) 2,749 $10.6
3. Without a Paddle (PAR) 2,754 $4.6
4. Hero (MIRAMAX) 2,175 $4.4
5. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (BV) 2,452 $2.93
6. Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (SONY) 2,544 $2.9
7. Vanity Fair (FOCUS) 1,054 $2.8
8. Collateral (DREAMWORK) 2,024 $2.67
9. Napoleon Dynamite (FOX SEARCHLIGHT) 921 $2.65
10. Paparazzi (FOX) 2,153 $2.6

Not Variety:

"Anacondas" appears to be the movie one has to miss both critically and the box office, Next few weekends and this may well be the big snake that dissapeared into the swamp.

and now:
'Resident Evil' tops weekend movies



Link

With incredibly bad reviews and a not-so-hot opening, I'm astonished anyone even bothers to write about it. Bad movies or slow economy? I don't know. I wouldn't waste one ounce of gasoline to get to the cineplex to see any of the top films. Good time for restaurants.

I agree. Time for restaurant or movies on TV. The older films are sometimes even better than the movies now.

The finale season episode of "Six Feet Under" was enough to convince me that perhaps the cineplex might be in trouble. We had a huge bankruptcy of the Edwards Theaters, an Orange Country based chain that was opening locations over the Western States a few years back. Regal got hold of them and now show commercials up until the film starts! I avoid Regal Theaters. Our best theaters are near Disneyland, Century Cineplex, and it's all THX picture and sound. I have to say the restaurants in OC in the bastion of the rightwing conservatives is a virtual wasteland of good restaurants. There are a few but difficult to find. I'm sure you don't have that problem in Vienna where even the smallest restaurant is likely leagues ahead of the poor excuse for food purveyed around here.

(Let's see how "Sky Captain" does next week with a top notch cast and filmed entirely CGI -- the actors had to act in front of a blue screen for the entire film as even the background interior sets are CGI).

Same here.
I don't like this series by no means at all. Just a bad production.



You are right. Best restaurants with luscious food. Especially in the first district.

films: If they are great again, here are also good theatres. Then I go gladly to the pictures.





What do you mean with CGI?
Yes, top notch cast. But the story is in my opinion, rather a classical story. Yep, let's see.

The story of "Sky Captain" revisits the old Republic serials so it's in the vein of "Indiana Jones." It's photographed in the rather grainy imagery of, say, Metropolis (which it obviously owes some inspriration).

I didn't mean that "Six Feet Under" was to be compared with anything currently at the cinema. It's better than anything at the cinema. Have you seen the entire series?

Just to add that HBO and often Showtime offer cable series and movies which are better than what is being screened at the cinema. "Deadwood" and "The Sopranos" could be mentioned instead of "Six Feet Under." "SFU," incidentally is helmed by Alan Ball who was responsible for "American Beauty."

What do you mean with CGI at the previous post?



Yep and so the story is in my opinion effete.




The serie is better that anything in the cinema, but to have a look only at TV: Not good.
I have not seen the entire series,nevertheless I can say (of course in my opinion) that the story and special the production is bad.

Which episodes have you seen? Even the opening credits and the Thomas Newman score are highly inventive. It's garnered the Golden Globe which is basically judged by many European eyes. Don't tell me the premise being based on death and morturaries turns you off? I can relate.

BTW, watching one episode of a series is like watching five minutes of a movie and deciding it's not good. While that's possible with something like "Resident Evil," it's virtually impossible with SFU.