Weekend Movies: a Crowded Field Ahead of ‘Helsing’
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood’s major studios and one independent debut five films nationwide on Friday ahead of next week’s big-budget vampire flick “Van Helsing,” which will mark the unofficial start of 2004’s summer movie season.
The summer is pivotal for filmmakers because it accounts for 30 percent to 40 percent of the annual box office tally, and this summer season is setting up to be crucial with talk of several movies in the mix costing $200 million or more.
Earlier this week, News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin called the $200 million films a “dirty secret” and said there are probably three or four movies debuting in the next six months that cost that much to make.
If one flops, “it will rock the industry to its foundation,” he said at a Milken Institute conference.
None of the movies this week have budgets that big. “Van Helsing” may be another story. The new movies range from “Mean Girls,” a dark comedy about high school social status aimed at young women, opening in 2,800 theaters, to family friendly “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius” playing at just over 1,300 locations.
Tucked in between are romantic comedy “Laws of Attraction” and human cloning thriller “Godsend,” both aimed at older audiences, as well as comedy “Envy,” with stars Jack Black and Ben Stiller who find many fans among young men.
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
“Attraction,” from Time Warner Inc. unit New Line Cinema, stars Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore, as a pair of mismatched attorneys — opposites who attract — both inside and outside the courtroom.
Brosnan sheds his action adventure armor as Bond and gets to play an ordinary man, while Moore, known mostly for work in indie films, takes on a role in a mainstream Hollywood comedy.
“A lot of us don’t get to be superheroes like James Bond,” she told Reuters in a recent interview. “But we do generally meet someone, fall in love with them and possibly marry them. That’s something we all come into contact with.”
“Attraction” is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language. Debuting in about 2500 theaters, it will likely face competition for older movie fans from “Godsend,” which stars Robert De Niro, as well as last week’s box office champ, “Man on Fire,” starring Denzel Washington.
In Lions Gate-backed, “Godsend” — rated PG-13 for violence and frightening images, sexuality and themes — De Niro portrays a doctor and genetics specialist who has perfected a technique to clone humans. It is opening at 2300 locations.
Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos play a couple who have lost their young son and hire De Niro’s Dr. Wells to make a clone in what turns out to be a pact with the devil.
Like “Attraction” and “Godsend,” Paramount Pictures “Mean Girls” faces stiff competition from one of last week’s debuts, “13 Going on 30.” It, too, was aimed at young women and debuted at No. 2, close behind “Man on Fire.”
EVIL AND GOOD
While “13 Going on 30” prompts a tear or two for sweetness, “Mean Girls” shows that teenage girls also can have a mean streak that can cause a few tears when feelings get hurt.
The movie stars Lindsay Lohan as a young woman named Cady who, after having been schooled in the wilds of Africa, enters the jungle of an American high school. There, she has to tame the beasts that roam the hallways in order to fit in.
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With a screenplay by “Saturday Night Live” star Tina Fey and based on bestselling book “Queen Bees and Wannabees,” “Mean Girls” has a solid pedigree behind it. It is rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some teen partying.
In DreamWorks’ “Envy,” also rated PG-13 for language and sexual/crude humor, two neighbors are best friends until one strikes it rich with an invention that vaporizes dog poop. The inventor, Nick (Black), builds a mansion next to his jealous, poor buddy, Tim (Stiller). It debuts in about 2500 locations.
Finally, Film Foundry’s “Bobby Jones” covers the early years of the golfer who is considered one of the game’s best players as well as a caring man. “He was given a great talent, but he also embraced the responsibility of being a decent human,” said Jim Caviezel.
Caviezel (Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ) plays the golfer as he battles a personal demon, his temper, as well as illness, to become a champion on and off the links.
“Bobby Jones” is rated PG for language.
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