‘Scary 3′ Set to Top Weekend Box Office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Halloween may be a week away, but that’s not stopping the studios from unleashing their scary movies ahead of the fright night.
After New Line scored a $28 million bow last weekend with its remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Miramax Films is targeting the same audience this upcoming three-day period with its horror movie spoof “Scary Movie 3.” The third installment in this successful franchise is guaranteed to top the box office this frame, with some predicting that the film will top the $30 million mark.
Playing off a pushed-to-the-limit PG-13 rating and a franchise that has generated more than $228 million in domestic grosses, Miramax’s Dimension Films will be egging on the under-25 crowd with its parody of such recent films as “Signs” and “The Ring.”
Starring Anna Faris in her recurring role as Cindy Campbell and featuring Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall and Denise Richards, “Scary 3” will open in more than 3,500 theaters. Director David Zucker of “Airplane!” “Top Secret!” and “The Naked Gun 2 1/2” fame was at the helm.
Also opening wide Friday is Sony Pictures’ “Radio,” produced by partner Revolution Studios. After a successful weekend of sneak previews, industry execs expect the film to open in the mid-teens. The PG-rated feel-good film stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as a mentally challenged man who, with the help of a high school football coach (Ed Harris), transforms himself from a laughing stock to a beloved figure in a small town. Directed by Michael Tollin (“Summer Catch”), “Radio” will open in 3,000-plus theaters.
The other picture debuting wide is Paramount’s “Beyond Borders.” Starring Angelina Jolie as a philanthropic socialite who falls in love with an international disaster relief worker (Clive Owen), “Borders” has so far disappointed on the tracking front and is unlikely to top $5 million for the weekend. Some industry insiders say the film’s concept appeals more to an older female audience, while Jolie generally attracts younger males, which leads them to suggest that the two disparate groups will cancel each other out. Directed by Martin Campbell (“The Mask of Zorro,” “GoldenEye”), the R-rated “Borders” opens in 1,798 theaters.
Disney will debut one of its last traditionally animated films, “Brother Bear,” in New York and Los Angeles, a week before the film opens wide nationally. The family film, centering on a American Indian chief’s son who is transformed into a bear, “Bear” will be a big test for the Walt Disney Co., which has had little success with its traditionally animated films in recent years.
Sony’s Screen Gems division will debut “In the Cut” on six screens in New York and Los Angeles. The Jane Campion film has received considerable advance buzz because of Meg Ryan’s adventurous performance, and could hold well for its planned expansion Oct. 31. The R-rated thriller also stars Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh and tells the story of an NYU professor (Ryan) who tests her limits in a risky liaison with a detective investigating the murder of a neighborhood woman.
Paramount Classics debuts “The Singing Detective” from Mel Gibson’s Icon Pictures. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright Penn and Gibson and based on the British TV miniseries, the R-rated film sees Downey’s character rewriting himself into one of his novels.
Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” will debut in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. The controversial HBO Films production, loosely based on the events at Columbine High School, is being released by Fine Line Features and stars Matt Malloy, Timothy Bottoms and Alex Frost.
Shoreline Entertainment will open “Irish Eyes,” a crime drama starring Daniel Baldwin and John Novak, on eight screens in Boston before expanding to other East Coast cities in coming weeks.
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