Tyler Perry’s The Women
I suppose all Labor Day weekends can’t be the worst box office in seven years, but given what they typically release on Labor Day, one of them kinda has to be.
9/12
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Remake of the 1939 Joan Crawford classic about a woman who finds out her husband is cheating on her. Witty female bonding ensues.
WILL IT SUCK?
The question isn’t so much did you like the original as it is did you like Murphy Brown? That show’s creator, Diane English, worked ten long years on recreating this film and is now in the writer/director’s chair.
Replacing Joan Crawford and the rest of the all female cast of the original are Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith and Eva Mendes as The Skank. Not bad, but I’ve gotta say the lineup for Friends With Money was stronger.
As pitched, this looks like a retread of Sex and the City, not an update of a Hollywood classic. Early buzz doesn’t even give it that much credit.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Minus the first week, this is a very crowded September, and Women (possibly to its credit) isn’t even trying to capitalize off the popularity of the original. $35mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
Any year other than 1939, the original would have been swimming in nods. This one, not so much.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Coen Bros. bring the funny.
WILL IT SUCK?
It’s the Coen Bros. Do we really need to have this discussion? Adding fuel to the fire is the anticipation of seeing them work with John Malkovich for the first time, plus J.K. Simmons, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and David Rasche. The red band trailer is pretty hilarious.
Early buzz is good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Righteous Kill will be an issue, but for all the movies coming out this weekend, it’s the Coens who’ve got Pitt and Clooney. $75mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
Coens already done got theirs.
TYLER PERRY’S THE FAMILY THAT PREYS
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Tyler Perry sees white people.
WILL IT SUCK?
More interesting to me than Perry adding people of non-color to his palette is the fact that he’s attracting Oscar winners into his troupe. Kathy Bates plays one of the leads alongside Alfre Woodard, Sanaa Latham, Robin Givens, Cole Hauser and Prison Break’s Rockmon Dunbar. Will any of this actually make the movie better than any of his other efforts, none of which have received strong critical notice? In spite of a better-than-average trailer, I’m not holding my breath.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The Women will pull just a tad on the demo, but Perry’s track record is pretty solid. $56mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
We’re not there yet.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro play cops trying to track down a serial killer who may be a cop.
WILL IT SUCK?
Remember it wasn’t just the combo of De Niro and Pacino that made Heat rock. It was De Niro + Pacino + Michael Fucking Mann. Here we have De Niro + Pacino + The Guy Who Directed Fried Green Tomatoes. So I’m not as psyched. However, we also have the guy who wrote Inside Man. So, I’m interested again.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
In the De Niro/Pacino vs. Clooney/Pitt dust up, it’s going to be close. $57mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
If they would, Overture would not be releasing a film with these two actors in September.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Arab-American Teen
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good, and I would expect nothing less from writer/director Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty scribe). Especially when tackling the hardcore source material by novelist Alicia Erian.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The “well-duh” controversy surrounding the title can only help sell tickets before a flood of indie product arrives the following week.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
Look for newcomer Summer Bishil to stand a chance in the lead and Aaron Eckhart to sport a supporting nod in what looks to be one of his creepiest turns yet.
Next Week: “I have had it with these motherfucking yuppies on this motherfucking development!”
September 10th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
What’s odd about the Tyler Perry movie is that I saw two trailers before it, and until they showed the title I would have sworn that they were two completely different movies that happened to star Kathy Bates. The first was a very tense-family-drama-looking thing, kind of like an amped-up “Dynasty,” and the second looked all Ya Ya Sisterhood-y. Not sure it’s wise to completely mislead your whole audience, because the actual movie can’t really be either of those two things once you put them together.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I meant “I saw two trailers FOR it,” not “two trailers BEFORE it.” The latter would require me to have seen the movie, which…over my dead body.