SPEARE'S TIPS: THE FILMS OF 9/25 - Surrogates, Fame, Pandorum, Capitalism: A Love Story, et al.

You mentioned that it based on a comic book. But how many people have actually read the comic book? Jonah Hex is a rather obscure character and an adaptation is probably only happening because DC is getting the idea that they can adapt anything after the success of The Dark Knight (this is also why The Losers is being made). This reminds me of when Marvel did that Man-Thing movie back in 2004 because they figured that Spider-Man's success could allow them to adapt any comic book property (at the same time, adaptations of Iron Fist, The Black Widow and Mort The Dead Teenager were planned but never happened).

Also, I expect to see Jonah Hex and Clash Of The Titans trade release dates. Jonah Hex is apparently almost finished and is obviously of lesser priority than Clash Of The Titans. Clash Of The Titans is of a much larger scale than Jonah Hex and it would make more sense to open that film in the Summer. Also, the director of Jonah Hex's last film (Horton Hears A Who) opened in March while the director of Clash Of The Titans's last film (The Incredible Hulk) opened in June.

Whaaaaa - Jonah Hex was written by Neveldine/Taylor?

It just became my most anticipated movie of 2009.

In other this weekend news, my theater is getting I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, so I expect it to open in a lot more than 115 theaters. Maybe more in the 300-400 range. And I'll probably check it out sometime this weekend.

Also, there will be a nationwide sneak preview of Whip It! Saturday night if any of you guys are interested.

BanksIsDaFuture wrote:Whaaaaa - Jonah Hex was written by Neveldine/Taylor?

It just became my most anticipated movie of 2009.

Yes, they wrote Jonah Hex. Their third produced script in only a year's time.

BanksIsDaFuture wrote:In other this weekend news, my theater is getting I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, so I expect it to open in a lot more than 115 theaters. Maybe more in the 300-400 range. And I'll probably check it out sometime this weekend.

It's also running in St. Louis. If my sister still lived in St. Louis, she would probably be the first one in line.

Here's what you would get from the average movie-going crowd (ages 15-25) if you asked who these people are:

- Gary Oldman - "An old actor guy?" or possibly "One of the dudes from Batman?"
- Malkovich "An old actor guy? I'm not sure what he was in, though."
- Megan Fox - "She's the hot girl from Transformers."

Sad state, but true.

W wrote:
- Malkovich "An old actor guy? I'm not sure what he was in, though."

Or as John Cusack describes him:

"Who the fuck is John Malkovich?"

"Oh, he's an actor. He's one of the great American actors of the 20th century."

"Oh yeah? What's he been in?"

"Lots of things. That jewel thief movie, for example. He's very well respected."

Pretty much sums him up...

SUPER LEAGUES UPDATE

Well, with three days to go in the July leagues (including today), here's a lowdown on how the July Super League rounds are shaping up, and if my projected numbers for this weekend are borne out.


ULTIMATE FY

IM: none. The winner will probably be J-Man, and he already has one.
Eliminated: mfrendo, BanksIsDaFuture, SuperShaan, BarcaRulz, Lordagoth, brockman81.


ULTIMATE HY

IM: J-Man (definitely) and either kblane or undeadmonkey
Eliminated: Dantic, mfrendo, SuperShaan, BarcaRulz, Nightbird, delfinasu, transformers2.
On the bubble: Scripps, chugsthemonkey, brockman81, numbersix, BanksIsDaFuture and Jake07 will tussle it out for the last two spots in the YZ.


BOX OFFICE FY

IM: JackO, unless Love Happens can outgross Tyler Perry by $3M this weekend, in which case, nobody gets one, because I already have one.
Eliminated: transformers2. J-Man and BarcaRulz lose their IMs.
On the bubble: the final four spots will be among the following seven, which means three will be out of: JohnErle, mutard7, Aquamann, Chienfantome, thswrestler, Donte and Dantic (who has an IM).


BOX OFFICE HY

IM: JackO, Buscemi
Eliminated: englishozzy, mfrendo, binkley, transformers2, Nycguy84, TBB, longhorn419, akibaali. BarcaRulz will lose his IM.
On the bubble: SWarehouse, Donte, thswrestler and J-Man will fight it out for the last two spots. A big weekend from Surrogates might also put jess_sayin in danger.


And it looks like the Regulars champs are going to be Aquamann (Ultimate) and JackO (Box Office).

Bad news for mfrendo and transformers, who will be out of all tournaments after this round.

Gaining IMs, losing IMs and getting kicked out of a league all in the same weekend.

I saw Pandorum tonight with a friend. We found it very disappointing and I felt the trailer lied to me.

Also, Surrogates is looking like it will have a soft opening while Cloudy may hold well.

Steve Mason:

Weekend Box Office Forecast: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS Again!

PLEASE NOTE: Slightly revised at 11:30p Friday night. A little more for Cloudy, a stronger Friday for Fame, but still short of $10M for the weekend and a little less for The Infortmant!.

Sony's Cloudy with a Chancy of Meatballs is proving to be a veritable buffet for family audiences as the 3D animation project will coast to a second consecutive weekend win. My sources tell me that Cloudy is holding up extraordinarily well with no other family fare in the market, seizing another $5.5M on to start the weekend and a possible $22M 3-day.

The Bruce Willis sci-fi vehicle Surrogates (Disney) is headed for a distant #2 after a lukewarm $5.1M opening day. The picture is targetting something in the $14.5M range. The re-tooled 2009 version of Fame doesn't appear to be the tonic that will cure what ails troubled MGM. With a $3.8M Friday, the remake will struggle to reach $9.7M, possibly falling just short of the benchmark.

Holdover The Informant! (Warner Bros) is holding strong for a likely 4th-place finish. The Steven Soderberg comedy featuring a pudgy Matt Damon sold approximately $2.2M in tickets on Friday, and it may hit $6.7M for a 10-day cume of $20.8M. Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself (Lionsgate) will probably round out the Top 5 with a possible $5.5M. Meanwhile, I am told that the genre pic Pandorum (Overture) will finish the frame with an underwhelming $4M or so.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY & 3-DAY ESTIMATES FOR 9/25-27
1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) - $5.5M Fri - $22M 3-day - $56.9M cume
2. NEW - Surrogates (Disney) - $5.1M Fri - $14.5M 3-day - $14.5M cume
3. NEW - Fame (MGM) - $3.8M Fri - $9.8M 3-day - $9.8M cume
4. The Informant! (Warner Bros) - $2.2M Fri - $6.7M 3-day - $20.8M cume
5. Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself (Lionsgate) - $1.65M Fri - $5.5M 3-day - $45.4M cume
* NEW - Pandorum (Overture) - $1.5M Fri - $4M 3-day - $4M cume

One I called, one I whiffed on. I said that Fame would be under $10 M, but I thought that Surrogates would easily win the weekend.

That strong hold for Cloudy just might be enough to eliminate me from the BO Super League. If I survive, it'll be by a whisker.

I think you'll be fine, johnerle. Only three people chasing you have Cloudy, and one of those three (Donte) is too far behind you to catch you. The other three chasing you (mutard, Dantic, Chien) don't have enough juice left to catch you either.

And the limited openers on Friday...

Limited Openings:
- 'I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell' | $145,000 | 115 theaters
- 'Coco Before Chanel' | $96,000 | 39 theaters
- 'Capitalism: A Love Story' | $62,000 | 4 theaters
- 'Paranormal Activity' | $34,000 | 12 theaters
- 'The Boys Are Back' | $13,000 | 6 theaters

Capitalism does well while the rest disappoint.

Why is BOM not updating!

They did update.

-Cloudy drops just 18% percent.
-The openers open very soft (Fame barely gets $10 million).
-Jennifer's Body drops just 49% because Fox padded the gross with Whip It sneak previews.
-Coco Before Chanel actually opened in 5 theatres instead of 39.
-Capitalism does $60,000 per theatre.
-I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell and The Boys Are Back do average numbers at best.

BOM's Sunday estimates:

Top 5

5 points - Cloudy
4 points - Surrogates
3 points - Fame
2 points - Informant
1 points - Tyler Perry


PTA

5 points - Capitalism
4 points - Coco
3 points - Boys are Back
2 points - Cloudy
1 point - Surrogates




SUPER LEAGUE UPDATES

These are about 90% set in stone.


ULTIMATE FULL-YEAR ROUND SEVEN

Winner: J-Man (No IM)
Out: BanksIsDaFuture, BarcaRulz, brockman81, SuperShaan, Lordagoth, mfrendo
On the bubble: None. Nine points separates chugsthemonkey from BanksIsDaFuture, and when Sunday's numbers become finalized, there's never that much variation.


ULTIMATE HALF-YEAR ROUND TWO

Winners: kblane, J-Man
Out: Jake07, Dantic, delfinasu, mfrendo, Nightbird, SuperShaan, transformers2
On the bubble: Five players are within 5 1/2 points of each other, so it will come down to User Rating changes. BanksIsDaFuture and chugsthemonkey are currently above the line, while brockman81, numbersix99 and BarcaRulz are currently below it.


BOX OFFICE FULL-YEAR ROUND SEVEN

Winner: JackO
Out: Chienfantome, Donte77, transformers2
Lose their IMs: Dantic, J-Man, BarcaRulz


BOX OFFICE HALF-YEAR ROUND TWO

Winners: JackO, Buscemi
Out: SWarehouse, akibaali, longhorn_419, J-Man, TBB, transformers2, Nycguy84, binkley, mfrendo, englishozzy
Loses his IM: BarcaRulz
On the bubble: None



REGULARS ULTIMATE

Winner: Aquamann2001
Runners-Up: JackO, Buscemi and W (too close to determine an order yet)


REGULARS BOX OFFICE

Winner: JackO
Runners-Up: Buscemi, Keyser Soze