Heist thriller has “Inside” track at box office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen should pull an “Inside” job at the weekend box office with their new thriller.
“Inside Man,” a heist film that turns into a cat-and-mouse game between a bank robber and a veteran police detective, will enter the fray Friday, along with two films that were not screened in advance for critics, the comedy “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and the horror “Stay Alive.”
“V for Vendetta” captured the top spot last weekend with a debut of $25.6 million and has reaped respectable midweek grosses. Warner Bros.’ R-rated sci-fi actioner looks likely to fall to second place this weekend.
Universal’s R-rated “Inside Man” has garnered mostly positive reviews, and is tracking best with the over-25 crowd and is extremely strong with black audiences, particularly females.
Washington was most recently in theaters with “The Manchurian Candidate,” which opened with $20 million in the summer of 2004, while Foster’s “Flightplan” took off with $25 million last August.
The opening haul for “Inside Man” should set a new high for its director, Spike Lee, whose best debut to date is “The Original Kings of Comedy” with $11.1 million in 2000.
Lionsgate’s “Larry the Cable Guy” most likely will vie for the No. 3 spot with Paramount’s former champ “Failure to Launch” and Disney’s “The Shaggy Dog,” both entering their third weekends.
Based on the blue-collar comedy of Larry the Cable Guy, the PG-13 comedy revolves around a veteran health inspector saddled with a rookie. Its appeal is tracking largely to young males and fans of the comedian.
“Failure to Launch” was off a moderate 36% last weekend, and has been generating solid midweek business; it had picked up $52.8 million through Wednesday. “Shaggy” shed a mere 18% of its audience, and had gleaned $38 million through Wednesday.
Disney’s “Stay Alive,” a PG-13 tale about a group of young friends in New Orleans who find a killer video game, is aimed at teens and fans of the genre. It stars Frankie Muniz, Samaire Armstrong, Sophia Bush, Jon Foster and Adam Goldberg. According to prerelease tracking, it won’t make the top five.
In the limited-release arena, IFC Films’ “Lonesome Jim” opens in New York. The R-rated comedy-drama, starring Liv Tyler and Casey Affleck, was directed by Steve Buscemi.
Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Child” (L’Enfant) debuts in Los Angeles and New York. The drama, winner of the 2005 Palme d’Or at Cannes, was directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. The R-rated French-language film centers on a young man who sells his newborn son because he needs the money but realizes the horrendous mistake and tries to get him back.
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