A game of movie-release chicken will play out this weekend as Warner Bros. and Weinstein Co. open competing horror flicks "The Final Destination" and "Halloween II."
Warner in March moved back the release of "Final Destination" by two weeks to Aug. 28 after Weinstein scheduled "Halloween" for that date. Both studios are aiming to repeat the performance of the first movie in the "Halloween" series relaunch, which opened to $26.4 million when it debuted Aug. 31, 2007.
Neither are likely to reach that mark -- the industry consensus is that both studios will eat into each others' potential ticket sales. Both films are likely to gross in the mid- to high-teen millions, with the one that does better potentially breaking the $20-million mark at the domestic box office.
Pre-release audience polling shows that "Final Destination" is generating more interest among young women, while the gorier "Halloween 2," directed by Rod Zombie, is likely to draw more males. Warner's movie likely has the advantage, however, since 53% of its theaters will play the movie in 3D, which carries a ticket price surcharge.
"Halloween 2" could be more of a boon for Weinstein Co.'s bottom line, however, as that movie cost about $15 million to produce. The production budget for "Final Destination" was $40 million.
Neither has a lock on first place at the box office this weekend, however, as Weinstein Co.'s "Inglourious Basterds" will probably decline about 50% from its strong $38-million opening and sell just under $20 million of tickets. There is a possibility, however, that "Halloween" and "Basterds" could hurt each others' bottom line since both are drawing mostly young, male audiences. Recent marketing for "Basterds" has attempted to draw more older moviegoers and women, however.
Also opening this weekend is Focus Features' "Taking Woodstock," from director Ang Lee. It played in two theaters Wednesday in Los Angeles and New York City and earned a solid $11,600. It's playing in only 1,393 theaters this weekend and is expected to earn around $5 million, a relatively soft start given the movie's nearly $30-million production budget.
What movie will be No. 1 at the box office this weekend?(opinion)-- Ben Fritz
Left photo:Â Tyler Mane in "Halloween 2." Credit: Marsha LaMarca / Weinstein Co. Right photo: Bobby Campo and Shantel VanSantern in "The Final Destination." Credit: Jim Sheldon / New Line Cinema.
'Drop Dead Diva' is a lively addition to Lifetime
The concept at the core of “Drop Dead Diva†(9 p.m. Eastern Sunday, Lifetime; three stars) is cute enough to make your teeth hurt.
In the first episode of the show, which debuted in July, model Deb Dobson (Brooke D’Orsay) was killed in a car accident. Once she arrived in the afterlife, Deb was told that she presented a curious conundrum for heaven: She had not done any notable good or bad deeds in her life. She was, in more ways than one, a zero.
Taking matters into her own hands, she reached over and hit the “return†key on the computer keyboard of the angel assisting her. Deb’s spirit did indeed return to Earth, but in the body of plus-size lawyer Jane Bingum (Brooke Elliott), who lay near death after being shot.
A skinny model in a curvy laywer’s bodyâ€"hijinks ensue! Eye-roll-inducing, annoying hijinks!
Well, you’d think annoyance would ensue, given that the central conceit sounds like a “funny†idea from the hellish factory that is Hollywood’s romantic-comedy industry (I make a point of avoiding mainstream romantic comedies; from what I have seen, many seem to revolve around the idea that accomplished women are just too darn uppity and smart for their own good).
But as it has wandered away from its core body-switch concept and allowed its characters to become more than caricatures, “Drop Dead Diva†has emerged as one of summer’s unexpected pleasures. The show improves weekly, and scenes no longer, thank goodness, revolve around whether Jane will eat too many pastries.
“Diva†has turned into a faintly quirky legal drama about a woman facing a peculiar set of challenges, both personal and professional. Imagine the more sane (but still slightly silly) side of “Boston Legal†crossed with the classic Cyrano de Bergerac tale of unrequited love and you're in "Diva's" ballpark.
One of Jane’s challenges is the presence of Grayson Kent (Jackson Hurst). Grayson is Deb’s former fiance, and he was hired by the firm that employs Jane just before Deb died (if the show hadn't grown so much, I'd be inclined to make a big deal of that ridiculous coincidence -- Deb's fiance and Jane working in the same office. But the show is working, so let's just move on).
Hurst is quietly winning in the role, and, to the show’s credit, Grayson’s grief over losing Deb is taken seriously. I still can’t see why such a smart man would have been so taken with such a clueless model-actress-airhead, but Grayson’s devotion to Deb makes you take more seriously this ditzy character, who is occupying Jane’s body and is also seen in flashbacks).
(Lucky for her, Deb got to retain Jane's professional knowledge when she took up residence in the lawyer's body, and aspects of Jane's personality still seem to be hanging around as well. There don't appear to be many hard-and-fast rules about how much Jane and how much Deb there is inside Jane's head; the show is evasive on that point, but never mind).
Stacy Barrett (April Bowlby) was Deb's best friend and she's one of only two people to know the Deb/Jane secret. At first, Stacy was such a walking dumb-blonde stereotype that I dreaded the Jane-Stacy scenes (the two share an apartment). But Stacy's grown on me, in no small part thanks to increasingly witty writing. At one point Jane tells Stacy about a dangerous diet product that contains caffeine, guarine and ephedrine.
"Is that last one from 'Dreamgirls'?" Stacy asks.
Ben Feldman is excellent as Fred, Jane's guardian angel, who came down to Earth to watch over her, and the comically gifted Josh Stamberg is enjoyable as Jane's boss. The show has also attracted its share of talented guest stars, including Jorja Fox, Mark Moses and Gregory Harrison, who plays a loopy businessman in Sunday's episode.
All of those folks take part in the weekly legal story lines, which are reasonably entertaining. It's a relief, in a way, that "Drop Dead Diva" doesn't explore in a systematic or serious way the knotty issues of weight, body image and self-esteem. It glancingly touches on those topics but mostly in an attempt to create comic moments, some of which are dismayingly unsubtle (also grating at times are Margaret Cho's overly broad performance as Jane's assistant and the too-cute "comedy is happening now!" background music).
When “Drop Dead Diva†is at its best, it’s about two women who have lost a lot but are learning that they’ve gained something valuable as well. And there’s an intriguing question at the heart of the showâ€"will Grayson ever realize that the love he lost is right under his nose and is now sporting dark hair and tasteful suits? Will he ever be attracted to the version of Deb that he now works with and confides in, or will Jane be forever relegated to "best pal" status?
Thank goodness the show has the amazingly talented Elliott to pull off Deb's ditziness, Jane's earnestness and a million emotional states in between. Elliott's comic deftness and her quicksilver ability to switch between such dissimilar women is a real pleasure to watch. Liza Minnelli and Paula Abdul may be upcoming guests on the show, but Elliott makes Jane the only diva worth watching.
Joy of Jazz festival gets underway
The annual Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival, previously known as Johannesburg International Jazz Festival, kicked off yesterday (Thursday). This year marks the eventÂ's 10th anniversary since inception in 2000. For the first time, last year Kenya was represented by singer Valerie Kimani.
The side acts to catch at Outside Lands
Our guide to the lesser-known acts on the bill at Outside Lands.
Concert listings
Event listings
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Old Hearts, Young With Desire, On 'Cloud 9'
Andreas Dresen's protagonists are wrinkled, and each has seen a lifetime's worth of longing. The sex scenes are frank and unforgivingly robust, and the film poignantly tracks the gap between physical decline and the persistence — at full blast — of unfulfilled desire.
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