The Number 911
Answer to the trivia question, what was Nic Cage’s biggest opening weekend ever? Ghost Rider. I thought I was highballing it at $93mil but it will likely hit $133mil when all is said and done.
2/23
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Jim Carrey gets obsessed with the number 23. Goes nuts.
WILL IT SUCK?
Carrey’s pretty versatile, so I feel he can pull off a thriller, no prob. Joel Schumacher, on the other hand, makes about one good film a decade, and he’s already done his for the 2000’s (Tigerland). Danny Huston and Virginia Madsen should make for a good supporting cast, at least. Early buzz is not good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Zodiac will be a bit of an issue the following week, but this won’t lack for revenue. Besides, it’s coming out on February 23rd. Who can resist that synergy? $47mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Title pretty much says it all.
WILL IT SUCK?
Never seen Reno 911!, but I hear good things. That having been said, the TV writers behind the show have shown some general suck when writing movies (The Pacifier, Night at the Museum, Herbie: Fully Loaded).
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Show has a decent enough following. $20mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Farmer decides to build a manned rocket in his backyard.
WILL IT SUCK?
In spite of a silly title and even sillier poster, the early buzz is good and why not, you’ve got the Polish brothers writing and directing, a solid cast with Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen and J.K. Simmons and a premise that worked well for October Sky.
Early buzz is mixed, but generally positive.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Crowded weekend. $18mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Woman travels to a remote village and unlocks deadly secrets from her past blah, blah, blah. No more evil ghost/troubled spirit movies! I mean it. Just a one month hiatus is all I ask.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is mixed. One of the writers directed and co-wrote the cult classic Hardware.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
I think folks are going to be all horror’d out. $2mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Story of the abolition movement in England.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is mixed with audiences more on board than critics. Michael Apted stays busy, directing what is, on IMDB at least, his best film other than his 7 Up series while Dirty Pretty Things scribe Steven Knight contributes the screenplay. Supporting cast is solid, with Albert Finney as the man who actually wrote “Amazing Grace” and Michael Gambon and Ciaran Hinds as your requisite bad guys. Also along for the ride is Youssou N’Dour, whom you may remember from such Peter Gabriel albums as So or from, you know, his massively successful recording career in Africa.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Walden Media knows what it’s doing. $8mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Doc about the most famous music festival you’ve never heard of.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is pretty good, and you could do worse than to have David Bowie, James Brown, Bjork and Joe Strummer on the ticket. Directed by music video helmer Julien Temple, who also has Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten coming out this year.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Even if people in the States had heard of this festival, music docs are a hard sell. $500,000.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Brother and sister fall for the same woman.
WILL IT SUCK?
Halfway-decent cast (Heather Graham and Tom Cavanaugh are the brother and sister, Bridget Moynahan is the love interest and Alan Cumming and Molly Shannon are the wacky best friends), interesting premise and sucky, sucky trailer. Early buzz is mixed.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
I would have actually gone with a wide release on this one. This low under the radar, it doesn’t stand a chance. $1mil.
Next Week: David Fincher. He’s how movies are done.