The new year is already nine days old, but this weekend truly begins the 2009 box office schedule, with a full slate of freshman flicks on tap. Leading the way, no doubt, will be the Anne Hathaway-Kate Hudson comedy Bride Wars — the farce should have an easy time slaying horror newcomer The Unborn, as well as the wide expansion of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Or will fan favorite Marley & Me bark up another victory? My picks are below.
1. Bride Wars — $23 million
With last summer’s blockbuster Get Smart and a possible Oscar nod for Rachel Getting Married, Anne Hathaway’s star continues to rise. And Kate Hudson rebounded nicely about a year ago with Fool’s Gold, after suffering a bit of a career decline. Add in the fact that a wedding-themed title is even more potent catnip to viewers than a marquee bearing the word “Christmas,” and we should have ourselves a big winner. Look for the film to premiere with a sum that falls somewhere between Fool’s Gold’s $21.6 mil bow and The Devil Wears Prada’s $27.5 mil opening.
2. Gran Torino — $16 million
Playing for four weeks in fewer than 100 theaters, Clint Eastwood’s latest action drama has already grossed more than $10 mil. As he approaches 80 years old, the star appears to be more bankable than ever.
3. Marley & Me — $15 million
With $111 mil and counting, the big pooch at the box office keeps growing. Just like my sister-in-law’s awesome new Bernese mountain dog, the beast!
4. Bedtime Stories — $13 million
Adam Sandler’s latest comedy should become his third straight $100 million grosser — and second of 2008. Dude is about to have 10 for his career, too.
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — $12 million
Brad Pitt’s latest drama should also cross the century mark soon, making it the seventh $100 mil grosser on his C.V. More heartening: The fact that people have turned out in droves for a nearly three-hour drama. Too bad that wasn’t the case with Pitt’s last sweeping endeavor, the sadly underseen The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
ALSO OPENING WIDE
The Unborn — $11 million
Horror movies all open in the same general box office range. Even ones with scary-as-f— trailers, like this one’s.
Not Easily Broken — $2 million
Bill Duke’s take on T.D. Jakes’ novel of the same title features why-didn’t-he-ever-become-a-bigger-star Morris Chestnut and Benjamin Button Oscar candidate Taraji P. Henson. Could fare well in just 724 venues.
Now, how do you see the weekend playing out? Weigh in with your picks below.
More Box Office News:
Batman was a blockbuster, but did 2008 bomb?
EW.com’s Box Office Chart
Marley & Me wins for a second straight week
Marley & Me leads the Christmas box office
Yes Man is No. 1 in its debut
Comments (1-21) of 21 Add your comment
i think you are predicting “unborn” a bit low. i wouldn’t be surprised if its at number two….
rebounded with Fool’s Gold? I keep rereading that statement for sarcasm but can’t find it…
Agree with Darrin.
You underestimate the horror genre here. Even bad horror films pull up in number 1 or 2 weekends of their release. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s number 1 with Bride Wars 2 or 3, with marley around there somewhere.
There’s no way Gran Torino will be even close to number 2. Sorry.
Kate Hackson’s career is so crappy, Goldie’s rumored to be taking steps to disown her…
Bride Wars looks terrible, fit for Kate Hudson but not for Anne Hathaway
I don’t really get all the hate for Fool’s Gold. I mean, sure there was no way that it was going to win any awards, but how was it any worse that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? And people like that movie. I guess I just don’t see what is sooooo terrible about it.
Rebounded with Fool’s Good? Are you crazy? That movie, was just as bad as You, Me, and Dupree, Skeleton Key, and many other disasters Hudson’s been in.
my guess is that unborn’ll be at #1. bride wars isn’t going to draw in a male audience, and films that appeal to teenage boys tend to do pretty well.
Explain to me how “Kate Hudson rebounded nicely about a year ago with Fool’s Gold, after suffering a bit of a career decline.” i kinda thought Fool’s Gold WAS her decline, followed directly by a DANE COOK movie that i think was in theaters for 5 minutes?? And this movie looks like another huge pile of poo. This my polite request to Hollywood to please give up on her. i have.
Kate Hudson has no talent and makes bad bad movies. Go away, Kate!
Love the stars but this movie looks pretty atrosious.
“Bride Wars” looks ridiculous, predictable and lame, just like every other movie Kate Hudson has done. I think she just shows up for the easy paycheck. I’m guessing that “The Unborn” will do better than expected.
K so first off I think I am finally going to agree with these predictions lol. And for all the confusion– what he meant by “kate rebounded with fools gold”– sure the movie got bad reviews, but it drew in an audience– and made 70 million dollars. thats a rebound for kate
1)Bride Wars: $22 million
2)Gran Torino: $18 million
3)The Unborn: $16 million
4)Marley & Me: $14 million
5)Bedtime Stories: $11 million
To me it seems that The Unborn will do better than expected. There hasn’t been a new horror movie in quite some time.
Agree that The Unborn will probably do better than predicted and that people are waiting for a new horror film. The last one that was released was The Haunting of Mary Hartly and that did not even make $15mil.
SAW V was not impressive either from what I’ve heard (hope that’s the last one)
I think people might be looking for something more original when it comes to horror films. If The Unborn fails to deliver, it will probably die fast in the theaters too.
I think the main reason that Button is doing so well is because it is a non threatening movie and the all the promoting it to death on tv. As i recall i never saw a tv ad for Pitt’s Jesse James movie last year.
I think the Bride Wars estimation is high. The two hit films of theirs each had higher profile co-stars who basically brought in the audience. Like Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston in Marley and Me, if you’re giving them credit for making those films successful, you’re sadly mistaken. Marley and Me was a major NY times bestseller. I read the book years ago. It’s simply a stunner. Outrageously funny and sad, everyone I know who read it, loved it. It would still have been a blockbuster movie even if it starred Paula Poundstone and Kevin Nealon. Still, give credit where it’s due and Anne Hathaway did carry “The Princess Bride” franchise for Disney. So, I’m thinking more like a 18 million dollar weekend or a little less for Bride Wars. The rest should fall in the following order: 2. Marley and Me-13.3 million; 3. Bedtime Stories- 11.8 million; 4. Benjamin Button- 11.6 million; and 5. Gran Torino- 11.4 million
To Matt2 – I’m pretty sure Anne Hathaway was in ‘the Princess Diaries’, not ‘The Princess Bride.’ And here’s a quick rewrite of ‘Bride Wars’ based on what any real people would do: “Aw, you screwed up and booked our weddings at the same time? Hey, let’s have a double wedding. YAY!” movie ends.
i hope ‘bride wars’ is to anne hathaway, what ‘norbit’ was to eddie murphy. how could they make such stupid choices?
kate hudson will most likely redeem herself when she’s next seen in Nine, b/c, hello it’s a feature starring Daniel Day-Lewis, so it’s bound to be quite good. her first smart move since Almost Famous. although, she’s only one of many female supp. characters, and i wouldnt be surprised if she found a way of sucking. she had just better not kill any scenes with day-lewis in them. that will be unforgiveable. but of course, if day-lewis is in the scene, she’ll be pretty much invisible.
Yeah, it was Listen 2 This. I liked those, but then they started not being exclusively about music, (they started to include video games & comic books too) http://cleaning.emenace.com/upholste2b/84.html cleaning undefined