‘Alamo’ Should Repel Invaders at Box Office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The battle of “The Alamo” gets under way at the box office this Easter weekend.
More than 40 years after John Wayne staged his own defense of the famed Texas fort, Disney has restaged the San Antonio showdown between the Mexican Army and the embattled group of Texans that included Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.
The movie boasts an unforgettable title — who doesn’t remember the Alamo? — and the release carries a PG-13 rating to broaden its appeal. But it’s shaping up as a brutal weekend as five new wide releases try to establish a foothold against the four films that opened wide last weekend.
Additionally, Newmarket Films’ “The Passion of the Christ” is looking divine. As Holy Week proceeds, Mel Gibson’s religious drama has been picking up disciples. While it ranked No. 5 last weekend, it moved up to second place in the rankings on Monday and Tuesday, and anecdotal evidence suggests that a lot of believers plan to make a visit to the movie part of their Good Friday observances. So “Passion,” which took in $10.6 million last weekend, could actually hold to that figure in its seventh weekend of release, and possibly even better it. And that could pose problems for the heavy slate of competitors arrayed against it.
“Alamo” is still likely to take the top spot. Laying siege to 2,609 locations, the film is expected to claim something in the $15 million territory, maybe even a few million more. That might prove to be something of a Pyrrhic victory, though. The movie, which Ron Howard originally planned to direct as an R-rated venture, has been a long time coming. With John Lee Hancock (“The Rookie”) taking over the director’s reins, the film — which stars Billy Bob Thornton as Crockett, Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston and Jason Patric as Bowie — had originally been scheduled as a December release before it was shifted into 2004.
While “Alamo” is attracting interest among older males, the male audience has plenty of other options. Sony Pictures’ “Hellboy,” which commanded the last box office round with a $23.5 million gross, could settle somewhere around the $13 million mark. MGM’s revenge actioner “Walking Tall,” which had to settle for second place last weekend, will probably slip further down the list. And Warner Bros.’ new arrival, “The Whole Ten Yards,” looks to be making a bid for younger males.
A sequel to the 2000 odd-couple comedy “The Whole Nine Yards,” which opened to $13.7 million and went on to collect $57.3 million domestically, the new “Yards” returns Bruce Willis as a former mob hit man and Matthew Perry as a nervous dentist. Howard Deutch — who has helmed similarly mismatched-pair comedies like “Grumpier Old Men” — handled directing chores on the PG-13 comedy, which opens in 2,654 locations.
Meanwhile, a whole other battle will be taking place for the potential female audience. 20th Century Fox is rolling out “The Girl Next Door,” an offbeat comedy about a teenager (Emile Hirsch) who discovers that the girl next door (Elisha Cuthbert) is not only the object of his fantasies but also a former porn star. Luke Greenfield (“The Animal”) directed the R-rated film, which appears to be speaking primarily to older teen females.
Younger girls, possibly with their moms in tow, might opt for Miramax Films’ “Ella Enchanted,” a slightly askew PG-rated fairy tale starring Anne Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries”) and directed by Tommy O’Haver (“Get Over It”). But both it and “Girl” also will be competing with the second weekend of Paramount Pictures’ “The Prince & Me,” so that could keep both of the new female-skewing features below the $10 million mark.
Finally, Fox Searchlight’s comedy “Johnson Family Vacation,” starring Cedric the Entertainer and Vanessa Williams, should carve out its own niche. Directed by Christopher Erskin, the PG-13 comedy about — what else?– a family vacation gone awry, opened Wednesday to get a jump on the competition, a shrewd move in a logjam of a weekend.
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