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Signs rules USBO
Fear dot com fails to create a ripple
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Arthur J Pais
With hardly any exciting new film around, the box-office performance at the coming Labour Day four-day weekend is not promising fireworks.
While Signs is expected to retain the top position, with about $14 million gross that will take its total to $192 million, the big question is how will My Big Fat Greek Wedding fare?
The comedy was at fourth spot last weekend, the first time it had reached that level since its opening 19 weeks ago. It had steadily been adding more dollars while other films dipped midweek. On at least two days, it almost toppled XXX from the second position. Do not be surprised if the low-budget hit will be the second highest grossing film of the week. The film was playing in about 1,700 theatres last week. Now, it is in nearly 2,000. Two more expansions are planned for the coming weeks.
For those who love small budget, quirky films, there is good news. Two critically acclaimed films, One Hour Photo and The Good Girl, have added hundreds of theatres. They may find themselves among the top 15 movies of the week. Both are released by Fox Searchlight.
The Good Girl, starring Jennifer Aniston, is now at about 600 theatres, a big jump from last week's 180. It has grossed about $3.2 million in limited release in three weeks. Gitesh Pandya of Boxofficeguru.com expects it to gross about $3.4 million over the weekend.
The film that is remaking Aniston's reputation as a fine actress has cast her as a bored Texas wife whose life is listless partly because of her job in a departmental store and partly due to her lazy, pot-smoking husband. An affair leads her to question her ethics and outlook on life.
"The movie is a dark comedy about false dreams and lost illusions --- and, thanks to a fine cast and a smart script," said the review in Chicago Tribune, "it's an effective one."
The New York Post declared, "Jennifer Aniston has long been upstaged by her hair. But with the world-renowned 'do yanked back in a haphazard knot, she is freed to exhibit some serious acting chops in this clever, piquant indie."
The film is directed by Miguel Arteta whose comedy Chuck and Buck was seen two years back. With the success of The Good Girl, he could now get plum assignments.
The newly unveiled Fear dot com, a thriller about the mysterious deaths of users of a web site, is not in a position to knock out Signs. The film has opened to mostly negative reviews. Though it is being released in over 2,000 movie houses, there isn't much of a buzz for it.
Among the early reviews to slam the film, the Associated Press writer declared, "Fear dot com isn't just bad in a corny, horror-flick kind of way, though it has its share of unintentionally funny moments. It is bad in a sickening, disturbing way, with its gratuitous mixture of sex and violence." The reviewer gave it one star, the lowest rating.
The film stars Stephen Dorff as a New York police detective who joins a researcher (Natasha McElhone) to dig out some disturbing facts about mysterious deaths. It is being released by Warner Bros who have seen their recent movies stumbling in a big way. The Eddie Murphy vehicle, The Adventures Of Pluto Nash, is ending its run with just about $6 million. The film, which was in hibernation for over a year since its completion, cost about $100 million.
Though the Clint Eastwood film, Blood Work, received many decent reviews and was made for about $40 million, it is still a disappointment since it is headed for a $30 million run in North America.