“Saw III” set to rip up weekend box office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – For the third year in a row, the diabolical character Jigsaw is set to rule the Halloween box office with the thriller “Saw III.”
The only other wide new release is “Catch a Fire,” a political thriller set in South Africa. It means that last weekend’s top movies, led by “The Prestige,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed,” and Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers,” will have a chance to do significant business.
Limited-release entries include the Oscar hopeful “Babel,” starring Brad Pitt, and the controversial British docudrama “Death of a President,” which depicts the assassination of President Bush.
Last year, “Saw II” opened to nearly $32 million, and tracking suggests that the latest film in Lionsgate’s R-rated franchise will garner an even larger opening number.
Tobin Bell is back for a third time as Jigsaw. In this chapter, the ailing serial killer uses a doctor to help keep him alive while his new apprentice puts a second victim through a game. “Saw II” director Darren Lynn Bousman filmed from a script by Leigh Whannell, who wrote all three installments. It opens in 3,167 theaters.
“Catch A Fire” stars Derek Luke (“Antwone Fisher”) as a family man who joins the African National Congress after he is arrested for a terrorist act he did not commit. Tim Robbins stars as the policeman forced to hunt down Luke’s character.
Focus Features’ PG-13 film was directed by Phillip Noyce (“The Quiet American,” “Clear and Present Danger”). It opens in 1,305 theaters.
Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers” will be watched closely after a soft $10.2 million opening last weekend. Paramount will expand the R-rated wartime drama to 2,190 theaters from 1,876.
Paramount Vantage will open Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Babel” on seven screens in Los Angeles and New York. The R-rated movie, also starring Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal, follows three interweaving stories dealing with how a rifle shot in the desert sparks a chain of events.
Newmarket Films is opening “Death of a President” in 91 theaters. The faux documentary from director Gabriel Range, which debuted last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers on the hypothetical ramifications of the Bush’s assassination. Three national movie chains refused to book the film, and advertising has been pulled from some television networks.
The Weinstein Co. will open its political documentary “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing” in four theaters. The film chronicles the country trio’s journey after they ignited a political firestorm when singer Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 that she was embarrassed that Bush came from her home state of Texas. The film, from co-directors Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, sneaked last weekend to a sold-out audience in Lubbock, Texas.
Magnolia Pictures will open its documentary “Cocaine Cowboys” in 12 theaters. The R-rated film from director Billy Corben chronicles the Colombian cocaine barons who invaded Miami in the 1980s.
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