Saturday numbers
Epic Movie will be #1 this weekend with a projected $17,368,000 by Sunday night. It wasn’t press-screened, is said to be a piece of shit and will almost certainly be over and out the door by next week or the week after. Joe Carnahan‘s Smokin’ Aces (which I don’t give a damn about seeing) will manage a decent $14,129,000 on 2200 screens, roughly $6300 a print. Night at the Museum will be #3 with $8,601,000 for a total cume of $215,900,000. (The American public likes what it likes.)
Catch and Release will end up in fourth place with $7,737,000 — 1600 theatres, 4700 a print…fair but far from encouraging. And fifth place Stomp the Yard will earn $6,980,000 this weekend.
Dreamgirls is going to attain a total cume of $85,900,000 by Sunday night, but it’s sinking and sputtering. It’ll make about $5,946,000 this weekend, for an average of $2100 a theatre. Dreamamount added about 500 theatres this weekend but it’ll be down 26% regardless. It’ll probably eke out $100 million, okay, but it’s over — they didn’t get the key nominations, they’ll be losing theatres in a week or two, and it’s all downhill from here on. They’ll be down to a $3 or $3.5 million haul next weekend.
The Pursuit of Happyness will come in seventh with $4,449,000. Pan’s Labyrinth, bolstered by six Oscar nominations, has added about 300 theatres and will do about $4,119,000. The Queen will do about $3,852,000, having added 300 theatres. The Hitcher will do about $3,375,000. Blood and Chocolate, a horror flick, will end up with $1,900,000…$1600 a theatre at 1200 theatres…forget it.
Jeff, Pan’s Labyrinth will be DOWN 9% from last weekend based on that number… Dreamgirls will be down about 29% which is by no means sinking and sputtering… it even was #1 the last few days.
I’m not that anxious to see Smokin’ Aces either, but didn’t Jeff praise the deplorably awful Running Scared for having all the same qualities that Smokin’ Aces appears to have?
And I thought that Jeff loved the trailer? The one with ‘The ace of Spades’ in it? God, Wells is so fickle!
u guys have no balls for not wanting to see smokin’ aces. what the hell is wrong with wanting to watch stylish action movies? i just don’t get it. off to see it now
“Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces (which I don’t give a damn about seeing) will manage a decent $14,129,000 on 2200 screens, roughly $6300 a print”
and that’s not a “decent” opening, that’s a great opening. critics took a dump all over it, it doesn’t have ANY real stars (just a slew of cool, quirky actors and musicians), and it’s an ultra-violent (from what i’ve heard/read) totally male-skewing action movie. and considering the recent lack of theatrical interest (again, men have lost their balls) in movies of this sort (Running Scared, Domino, Revolver, Crank), I’d call this opening, in the dead of fuckin winter, pretty great for Carnahan and Universal, They’ll get my $10 in about an hour.
Actionman, don’t waste your time expecting guys who write on this site to have balls. I’d say 90% of them live on the coasts, listen to NPR, and prefer to see movies made by Gaymoldavar with
“you go girl!” themes starring Spanish women.
We see action movies with real men, and fuck hot women (at least I do). Have you ever seen the girls granola-lib men are with? They’re physical nightmares (just look at all the girls you see Wells take pictures of when he’s out at parties, that hang out with these artsy type guys).
NYC is a veritable playground of sex if you’re a real man, and I couldn’t love it more – don’t worry, actionman, we have the better lives.
The trailer for Smokin Aces was awesome, second only to the 300 trailer.
The movie Smokin Aces, though, isn’t what the trailer makes the film to be. The flick is decent enough, but it is by no means “Wall to wall action”.
Although, it’s almost worht seeing for Jason Bateman’s performance alone.
NYCBusyBody, just for the record: I don’t know if you actually are one, but you come off like a homophobic, self-important, arrogant douchenozzle.
That said, as a gay, I couldn’t believe how fucking entertaining ‘Smokin’ Aces’ was. And I enjoy ‘Running Scared’ but I can’t really call it ‘good’ in decent conscience– this is a far better film, and just a blast to watch. It’s also actually far more clever than most critics are giving it credit for, and features the first performance by Ryan Reynolds that hasn’t annoyed me.
I had a feeling it might do better than expected since my friends, who rarely ask me about specific upcoming movies, had all been asking me if I’d seen it yet. It’s also was the first screening in my market to be 100% full in over a month.
And despite the norm for this sort of movie, I think it’s going to have killer word-of-mouth. I’ll guess this one makes it to $45-50 million, which would be pretty great for a movie that cost $21 million.
NYCBusybody is the Nicol D of Hollywood Elsewhere, almost self-parodic in his desperate need to be acknowledged due to some calculatedly “outrageous” comment. Just ignore him.
I’m a straight man, and I didn’t enjoy Smokin’ Aces.
So, I’m just gonna go put this paper bag on my bufugly granola lib girlfriend’s head, and make her do a Sarah Vowell impression while screwing in the back of my Prius.
I fucking loathed Smokin Aces. It’ a poor man’s Guy Ritchie movie. A major step backward for Joe Carnahan as a film maker.
Real men love obvious Guy Ritchie clones about characters who overcompensate for their feelings of masculine inadequacy by firing off lots of guns. Real men share those feelings of inadequacy and try to mask them by writing love letters to their own imagined virility. Real men don’t have girlfriends or wives, yet insist that everyone else is gay. Real men watch Sex & the City in their spare time and pretend they’re one of the characters. NYCBusybody, you are a real man.
I always feel unclean after a flurry of NYCBusybody posts. You all realize this is just foreplay for him before he locks himself in the bathroom and spends the next hour masturbating and crying over a tattered, signed copy of Ann Coulter’s Treason, right?
This is one of the simultaneously stupidest and most pathetic posts NYCBB has produced. “We see action movies with real men, and fuck hot women (at least I do)” That’s hilarious! How do you have time for these hot ladies when you’re blogging so much, loser!
Anyway, Running Scared is a very good movie, and not at all up to the same things that (I assume) Smokin’ Aces is, which looks like a throwback to a Tarantino-ripoff from ten years ago.
Yeah, I’ve got to step in here and defend Running Scared as well. I think it’s criminally underrated and if Paul Walker wasn’t the star, young males might have actually given it a chance in the theater and found out they actually dug the shit out of it. Everyone I know (surprisingly) loves the crap out of it and I’m talking about a group of people who are just as much fans of Almodovar, Mike Leigh and David Lynch as they are of Tarantino and Tony Scott. I agree with Armond White, I think Running is so much better than the overpraised The Departed. On a pure technical level alone, Running kicks its ass.
Are you serious, lawnorder? Every scene in Running Scared functions on exactly one level: the surface. The ambivalent web of confusion and secret agendas in The Departed is enough to put it miles ahead of Running Scared. And those fucking Russian mobsters are pathetically ridiculous. Is there a single character in Running Scared that isn’t a caricature? And I don’t even think the dude who directed Running Scared thinks it’s technically better than The Departed. That’s nuts!
Well I disagree with that, RS is flashier but Departed is one of the best-crafted movies of the year.
People, what part of “just ignore him” did you not understand?
Yeah, sorry about that James. I try to limit myself to 1 NYC comment a month but I couldn’t resist my 2nd one for January. I’ll skip February.
I need to check out Running Scared now, but there’s now way it’s on the same level as The Departed. That sounds like hyperbole.
cj-RUNNING SCARED is what it is, good, well directed, unapolgetic trash. I will see SMOKIN ACES because I loved Carnahan’s NARC, but I’m not expecting anywhere near the same returns artistically this time out.
Off topic but fuck it, I just got back from LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, and I’m going to eat some major crow for some of my past Eastwood comments (which no one probably rememberes anyway). LETTERS is easily Eastwood’s best since UNFORGIVEN, and probably his best period. A simple, humane war film that has a grace, a naturalism that Eastwood’s work has lacked for at least a decade, its a knockout. It’s ironic this year that Scorsese is the favorite, because in this particular showdown, Clint has the richer, more timeless film.
if Paul Walker wasn’t the star
That’s a mighty big if.
I’d say it’s more plausible that more people would see it if they knew that Walker gets his face smashed in with hockey pucks towards the end.
As for Smokin’ Aces, waaaaaay too much needless exposition in it for a movie that’s just about a bunch of people trying to kill each other. I actually liked DOMINO better.
I could use some good, unapologetic trash about now. I just watched the original Solaris for the first time and after the 2nd hour of mopey, introspective Russians, I was ready for a car chase or an explosion or some monkeys with guns or something…anything. It was great and all, but I’m beginning to think Tarkovsky makes Ozu look like Michael Bay.
As for Eastwood, I’m a little bit less enthusiastic than you about Letters from Iwo Jima but after the disappointing Mystic River and Flags of Our Fathers (I skipped Million Dollar Baby), I was ready to jump off the Clint bandwagon and Iwo made me change my mind. The performances of Watanabe and Ninomiya were especially good. I look forward to watching Flags and Iwo together.
cj-Yeah me too, Mystic River was all over the place in tone and performances, Million Dollar Baby didn’t work in any department for me with the possible exceptions of Clint and Morgan on screen and I skipped Flags because it looked like the same WWII “last great war movie”. So, yeah, I was just about over Clint myself until this most recent film.
Smoking Aces is the worst movie I have seen in the last 5 years. No joke. It is the biggest pile of crap imaginable. Only Jason Bateman’s 3 minute cameo was excellent – the rest was nauseating.
I always feel unclean after a flurry of NYCBusybody posts. You all realize this is just foreplay for him before he locks himself in the bathroom and spends the next hour masturbating and crying over a tattered, signed copy of Ann Coulter’s Treason, right?
Yeah, sorry about that James. I try to limit myself to 1 NYC comment a month but I couldn’t resist my 2nd one for January. I’ll skip February.
I need to check out Running Scared now, but there’s now way it’s on the same level as The Departed. That sounds like hyperbole.
Just back from a rainy afternoon in Century City, where I saw:
1.SMOKIN’S ACES – Gotta admit, I enjoyed this one as a Guilty Pleasure. And agree that Jason Bateman steals the movie; it could’ve used more of him. A little too much going on here, as if Carnahan wanted to impress and overload it with plot details. But the movie disappointed for me at the end, POSSIBLE SPOILER…when it goes all soft. You could practically here the audience ask, Huh? As if Joe C. wanted to show us all he really has heart and morals. I would’ve respected him and the movie more if he would’ve stuck to his guns, pun intended. A solid B.
2. After all that testosterone, I walked in and got an overdose of estrogen with CATCH & RELEASE. Honestly, I think I was only one of 2 guys in the whole place. Decent flick, but strictly for the ladies. Lots of Kevin Smith here, so those who hate him (and you know who you are), stay away. Another B.
3. Then snuck in for the last half of EPIC MOVIE. Just like the creator’s previous DATE MOVIE, lots of hit and miss gags, but the place was PACKED, mostly young’uns. Not surprised it’s #1 this weekend.
Ahhh…the old “Pay $6.50 for a Pre-Noon Matinee at AMC and Stick Around For 3 Movies” routine. Nice. Even with validation though, didn’t parking cost you $29.95 plus your first born child, Dixon? I like doing the same thing of a rainy afternoon, but in Beautiful Downtown Burbank where the parking is free.
I could use some good, unapologetic trash about now. I just watched the original Solaris for the first time and after the 2nd hour of mopey, introspective Russians, I was ready for a car chase or an explosion or some monkeys with guns or something…anything. It was great and all, but I’m beginning to think Tarkovsky makes Ozu look like Michael Bay.
As for Eastwood, I’m a little bit less enthusiastic than you about Letters from Iwo Jima but after the disappointing Mystic River and Flags of Our Fathers (I skipped Million Dollar Baby), I was ready to jump off the Clint bandwagon and Iwo made me change my mind. The performances of Watanabe and Ninomiya were especially good. I look forward to watching Flags and Iwo together.
Actually, CJ, it’s only $6, but you’re right, parking is ridiculous there. So I actually hopped on a Blue Bus from Santa Monica where I live, got there in 15 minutes, perfect.
Anyone that gives Smokin Aces a B rating needs to be lobotomized. It is no wonder Hollywood keeps cranking out these craptastic disasters.
Saw Smokin’ Aces at the Grove this afternoon–the theater was packed and it was in one of the big ones–and was pleasantly surprised. My expectations were zero, I didn’t even really want to see it, but once it all started going I actually found it pretty enjoyable. Sort of like elements of the third act of True Romance stretched to feature length, with many more interested parties. Bateman probably does steal the movie;I also liked the near-unrecognizable Matthew Fox. I loved getting to see the trailer for Hot fuzz, also. For the record, I’m a straight guy who also liked Running Scared, but not as much as The Departed, and has reacted to every Guy Ritchie movie I’ve ever seen with a total shrug. So there you go.
I didn’t sneak in to Epic Movie. No way I was gonna do that.
“Smokin’ Aces” is 100% a Guy Ritchie movie with the British grimey-grit traded in for Las Vegas tarnished-glitter, but it’s probably the best possible one that could be made. Tons of cool actors giving fun performances, great atmosphere, killer choreography-of-events and really awesome “hey, shouldn’t you be busy fighting Spider-Man” crazy bad guys. It’s a goddamn blast. NOT anywhere near as good as “Narc,” of course, but it HAS to be better than the innevitably watered-down JC-directed “M:I3″ would’ve been.
i always find it funny when macho men like nyc mock those ugly girls of the left — like who? most lib females are SMOKIN’ and most conservative ladies look like mann coulter…
no desire to see any of the above. i like carnahan but this kind of snarky gunplay is way too 1994 for me.
i’m watching fellini’s ROMA and argento’s TENEBRE instead.
“Everyone I know (surprisingly) loves the crap out of it”
That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve read here yet.
Are you the same single guy trying to drum up interest in the film on IMDB too?
EVERYONE hates “Scared.” The film is a cancerous tumor and represents all the deplorable directoral choices hacky filmmakers put to use today to seem hip and useful to the studios.
Ahhh…the old “Pay $6.50 for a Pre-Noon Matinee at AMC and Stick Around For 3 Movies” routine. Nice. Even with validation though, didn’t parking cost you $29.95 plus your first born child, Dixon? I like doing the same thing of a rainy afternoon, but in Beautiful Downtown Burbank where the parking is free.
I have no idea who you’re referring to on IMDB. I’ve posted my take on IMDB as I’ve posted about other films I’ve enjoyed. But your comment that EVERYONE hates Running Scared is complete bullshit. In this thread alone, several posters have stood up for the film and it rates 7.5 on IMDB, so what kind of hate is that? And, yes, douche bag, for the record, pretty much everyone I know does dig this film in a big way. To you, it’s a “cancerous tumor” – to me it’s a ballsy, dark thriller made the way I like them. I don’t give a shit if you don’t dig the style. I did. The jittery, tweaked images felt appropriate to Walker’s state of mind and the crazy, hyper real ride of the film. I don’t give a shit if the film tanked at the box office or is hated by most critics. My opinion (and the people I know) is the only opinion that counts to me, and I say it fucking rocks. In ten years it will be a classic of the genre.
RUNNING SCARED on the surface seems like another gritty action flick but there really is genius in there; the Russian sadistic neighbor watching John Wayne’s THE COWBOYS over and over, the Ice Rink shoot-out, the Pimp and whore encounter outside the diner, and the shocking pedophile couple apartment setpiece – amont many others – I mean this damn film just surprised me a every turn and very few action films do that anymore.
I used to think Paul Walker was your usual talentless hollywood flash in the pan until I saw his manic, desperate performance in SCARED.
This is a good film folks.
Dixon: Your scale seems a little out of whack if two movies that you seem to have middling thoughts about rate ‘B’ in your world. It sound like they were both average ‘C’s.
Breadly: Not a helpful comment. I think Running Scared is a good movie; therefore, not everyone thinks it’s ‘cancerous’. Explain your opinion or don’t bother to burden us with empty rhetoric.
That said, Paul Walker is a big liability in this movie; he screams crap to discerning moviegoers, plus it doesn’t help that he’s stiff as usual in this movie. If you want to see a ‘good’ Paul Walker performance, rent Eight Below. And even then, it’s still not exactly ‘good’.
I don’t know if I’m a “real man,” but dollars to donuts I could kick the shit out of NYC and actionman at the same time (relax, fellas, I’m kidding … sort of), and I didn’t really like SMOKING ACES.
The biggest problem is Aces has a “reveal” that is completely against the tone of the movie. It should end in a wild car chase, or some other such cliched nonesense (and I mean that in the best possible way), but instead tries to get all USUAL SUSPECTS. Doesn’t work, IMO. The movie has some good scenes, a couple of suprising performances (Common, for example, would appear to have a future as an actor) but is totally unoriginal, cliched, and … well, not very good.
Then again, I didn’t like NARC either, but at least NARD started out as a good gritty crime story before it descended into ridiculous hysteria.
What kind of real man calls himself a “busybody”?
ha ha!
SMOKIN’ ACES — what a disappointment. Loved NARC and agree that this was an enormous step backward. The trailer accomplished in a minute explaining what the deal was, everybody wants to kill Piven, what they took half an hour (or more) to do. Insane.
Also, the tone shifts were crazy. It wants to be a Guy Ritchie move, but end on Scorsese pathos. At least Ritchie’s movies (the first two at least) don’t attempt that nonsense.
RUNNING SCARED truly sucked. All you who love it, please explain to me why it needed the child-sex-tape plot. You could remove that and no one would be the wiser (and it would cut a nice chunk of the movie out).