New movies already seen as bombs
You won’t find many reviews for either of this weekend’s major movie releases.
Sony Pictures refused to screen its Tommy Lee Jones comedy Man of the House for critics. Alliance Atlantis wouldn’t preview its new Christina Ricci werewolf flick Cursed either.
Sony is following orders from Revolution Pictures which created Man of the House and Alliance Atlantis is heeding directives from Miramax’s Dimension Pictures.
Revolution even screened its road trip comedy Are We There Yet?
So, hard as it is to comprehend, the company must consider Man of the House far inferior.
Man of the House had a production budget in excess of $40 million US plus a $25 million marketing budget and is being released on 2,300 screens across North America.
It stars Jones, Cedric the Entertainer and Anne Archer as well as hotties Christina Milian, Kelli Garner, Vanessa Ferlito, Monica Keena and Paula Garces as cheerleaders under the protection of Tommy Lee Jones.
Dimension’s Cursed has been a troubled project for almost two years.
It’s been rewritten, reshot and re-edited so many times that director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson are distancing themselves from it.
It started out to be an R-rated horror comedy in the vein of the Scream movies Craven and Williamson collaborated on. It’s now a PG-13 flick.
Cursed cost Dimension $38 million plus a $25 million marketing campaign. It will be released on 3,000 screens.
When a studio refuses to screen a film for critics, it essentially reviews the film itself, admitting it’s a dog that needs one clear day before reviews and word-of-mouth start chipping away at audiences.
Cursed has the better chance of making some pocket change this weekend, given that White Noise, Hide & Seek and Boogeyman have all made upwards of $50 million.
Horror movies are popular and Cursed has slick production and the Scream cache.
All Man of the House has going for it is Jones and without a black suit and Will Smith, he has limited box-office clout.
Smith’s Hitch and Keanu Reeves’ Constantine will rule the box-office again.
Categories