*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.
The one and only new studio release this weekend is “Date Night” from Fox. The film stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey, who both have legions of fans from their Thursday night NBC television shows, and a number of decent box office hits under their belt as well. Still, it’s always a bit of a risk asking audiences to pay $10 for a pairing that they more or less see every week at home for free. Granted, here they are together, but there needs to be a little more to it. The concept here is standard paper-thin studio comedy fare and I’m a little surprised at the way this has been marketed.
Action/comedies/romances can really strike a chord with audiences of all ages, as seen with Fox’s own “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” but the studio seems to be content purely selling this as a comedy. The posters are a snooze and the trailers only half-heartedly advertise the amazing supporting cast, which includes Mark Wahlberg, James Franco and Mila Kunis.
But again, the posters only want you to know that Steve Carell and Tina Fey are in a movie together and you should see it. I can’t help but see missed opportunity all over this thing and a $30 million debut is about the best it can hope for. $25 million might be more like the final result though, which wouldn’t even match the $29.9 million April 2004 debut of “Mean Girls.” Incidentally, if you want to see a date movie but think Shawn Levy is an artistic void, check out “Luke and Brie Are on a First Date,” now streaming for free on Babelgum. And that’s the last plug I’ll ever do, I swear.
But wait! Vivendi Entertainment, the company that brought you the side-splitting spoof, “An American Carol,” is aggressively releasing a Christian movie called “Letters to God” on 897 screens. If you are on the fence about whether believing in God is for you or not, check out this film because it has a tear-jerking story to tell that serves no purpose other than to convert non-believers. Or maybe it’s an amazing piece of artful expression. One of the two. It’ll probably preach to the converted enough for a $1.5 million debut.
That’s it folks. Good week to catch up on titles from the last few weeks or pile up your Netflix queue with my choices in the Life Without Oscar series. I’m predicting a precarious 60% drop for “Clash of the Titans,” which would give it around $24.5 million and potentially set up an exciting race for the top spot this weekend. “How to Train Your Dragon” may even drop a slim 15-20% and make itself a contender, given the solid word of mouth it’s receiving.
Happy watching this weekend!
Comments
10 responses to “FRIDAY FORECAST: Save the ‘Date’”
Your ability to work in the plug is awe-inspiring.
I should probably see a movie or something. Time to start crawling out from under my rock.
Chad , Tina Fey & Steve Carell are very likable ( talented actors) , but the movie is such a major disappointment ( sub-par script). James Franco was the highlight !Franco has great comedic timing – he needs to do more comedy . Mark Wahlberg was not bad.
I’m just so incredibly tired of the same Steve performance – ” weak- insecure-nerdy -awkward ” act. It is so irksome. Carell’s movie career is in serious trouble , if he continues give the same performance ( and playing the same role) in all his films. If Steve had charisma , I would be able to tolerate his current lightweight performances. I just want Carell to breakout & take some risks . Maybe he should play a comedic character that is unsympathetic, strong , and very complex??
Too bad. Next up is a nerdy, awkward manchild again in Dinner for Schmucks.
kris wed love to see you come from under that rock
nothing to see in theatres for a while
I saw the under-the-radar horror flick “The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond” recently, and, well, there’s a reason it’s under the radar: it’s not very good. And it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
I loved “Date Night,” actually. I think it’s the rare action/comedy that works wonders by being really, really funny (much more so than, say, “She’s Out of My League”) and really, really exciting (much more so than, say, “Green Zone”).
I also really enjoyed “The Runaways,” which was less a conventional musical biopic and more of an accurate exercise in a coming-of-age film that happens to have music and be about real people.
Letters to God? Shit, I’m still waiting for Glenn Beck’s follow-up to The Christmas Sweater.
If you’re in NY or LA please see “The Square”. Actually supporting good arthouse flicks might mean more of them actually get released.
MovieMan, I am happy you enjoyed ” Date Night”. But, aren’t you tired of the same Steve Carell shtick ?? Am I the only one sick of the repetition of his recent performances ( his tv show included) ??
P.S. , I will always give Steve props for his wonderful acting in “40 Year Old Virgin” & ” Little Miss Sunshine”. I just wish he would explore more of the rawness, darkness, anger & complexity he beautifully conveyed in ” Little Miss Sunshine “. Carell has the goods , but I don’t think he realizes his full potential.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ElissaRosenthal#p/u/7/UZhY5sQlKok
s.p.:
I think Carell is a solid but overrated comedic actor. He mostly gets by on great comedic skills, at least in his film resume (admittedly, he’s better in “The Office” on the small screen). Admittedly, I liked “Date Night” more than “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” both of which were decent, but had more screenplay problems than most people were willing to admit. Actually, to be honest, I’ve liked “Date Night” more than any movie that either Steve Carell and Tina Fey have done.