No, Really, April Belongs to DreamWorks
Disturbia held on to confirm that, indeed, every weekend in April was led by a DreamWorks flick. By the way, Fracture, not bad.
5/4
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Spider-Man vs. Venom, Sandman and the hipper, younger Green Goblin.
WILL IT SUCK?
No. I mean, there are few guarantees in movie life, but the quality of a Sam Raimi film is almost always one of them. Will it be as good as Spidey 2? Maybe not. You only have one of the superstar writers returning (Alvin Sargent), but you still have Sam writing with his brother Ivan, who had input on the first two. You also have an all-star cast with Topher Grace, Thomas Hayden Church and James Cromwell being added to the bunch. You also have one of the best villains in the Spideyverse, Venom, but will that be overshadowed by two other villains being thrown into the mix? I saw about ten minutes or so at CES (pretty much the same stuff released on the web a little while back) and it looks fantastic. Also, Sam Raimi mentioned Gymkata in an interview about the film, and you gotta love that.
Early buzz is phat.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Has an entire blockbuster-free weekend between itself and the weekend-upon-weekend punch of Shrek and Pirates. $346mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Drama centering on the World Series of Poker in Vegas.
WILL IT SUCK?
In spite of a cheesy-ass trailer and multiple delays, I have high hopes for this one. Curtis Hanson can spin just about anything into gold, and screenwriter Eric Roth (Munich) has more hits than misses.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
A little bit of competition from Georgia Rule next week and there’s some movie about a spider this week that might get more attention. $23mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Kerri Russell plays the waitress in question, trying to escape an unfulfilling life with the help of her doctor (Nathan Fillion).
WILL IT SUCK?
Not at all. Great comedy. More here.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
More buzz couldn’t hurt. $4mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Guy puts his wife in a home cos’ she’s getting Alzheimer’s. She proceeds to forget him and fall for someone else. How much does that suck?
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is even better than Waitress. The feature-length writing/directing debut of indie darling Sarah Polley.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
About as well as Waitress, I imagine. $4mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
20 filmmakers make movies about Paris.
WILL IT SUCK?
Even the people who like it say it’s uneven, but the general buzz is still good. Directors include Olivier Assayas, Gurinder Chadha, the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuaron, Gerard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Alexander Payne, Walter Salles, Tom Twyker and Gus Van Sant. Actors include Steve Buscemi, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Miranda Richardson, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, Natalie Portman, Gerard Depardieu, Alexander Payne, Ben Gazzara and Wes Craven.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The individual directors will draw on their core followings, but it won’t be enough to overcome an extraordinarily crowded weekend. $1mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
A post-9/11 Arlington Road.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good, and with Peter Krause and Richard Schiff on board, why not?
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Hugely crowded field. $500,000.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
The World’s Fastest Schwinn
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is mixed. Decent cast, tho: Johnny Lee Miller, Billy Boyd and Brian Cox.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Indie sports flicks are a hard enough sell when they’re not surrounded by fifty other art house releases. $2mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Guy from those Whit Stillman films gets therapy.
WILL IT SUCK?
Hard to say. Though Chris Eigeman as a neurotic New Yorker shouldn’t be a hard sell. Ian Holm, Roger Rees and Harris Yulin are also up in here.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Nobody knows about this. $750,000.
Next Week: Jane Fonda. Felicity Huffman. Lindsay Lohan. One of these actresses is not like the others.