In Contention

Tag: Lottery Ticket

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Photo finish!

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    One last bit of excitement before the summer ends and Tapley starts posting random Redskins photos on Sundays. We have a dead heat race for the top spot at the box office, but estimates are handing the crown to “The Last Exorcism.” If it does, indeed, win the weekend, it will be the first time Lionsgate has had two consecutive number one films.

    The official estimate is $21.3 million, which puts it just a fraction behind the $23.1 million debut of “Exorcist: The Beginning” on this same weekend of 2004. It’s also a smidge behind the $24.5 mil debut of Lionsgate’s similar looking 2009 shocker, “The Haunting in Connecticut,” but let’s remember that this is a no budget endeavor with no recognizable actors that the studio had to market with smarts and Eli Roth’s name.

    Incidentally, they couldn’t use Roth’s name to market his own movie, “Hostel Part II,” to a debut past $9.5 million, but the man can’t win them all. Now we just sit back and wait for the inevitable porno knock-off called “The Last Circumcision.”

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: End of the Road

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    It’s the last full weekend of the summer, the last weekend of me being 27, and the last weekend for Friday Forecast on InContention. A time of introspection. A time of reflection. A time of paying another $20 to see those blue things in 3D again. I can’t wait to not see it again… for the first time.

    The dog days of August are notoriously tough on the multiplex as kids start heading back to school so don’t expect any Oscar nominations for this week’s crop of films. Leading the pack is “The Last Exorcism” from Lionsgate. This could be the first time in that company’s history that one of its films takes the top spot away from another one of its films. A low budget faux-documentary, Lionsgate picked up distribution rights and has sold it fantastically with sharp trailers and posters.

    Exorcism is a foolproof box office meme, with Sony able to milk a $37.3 million debut for “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” in September 2005. That film had some movie stars and a true story hook, while Lionsgate is definitely no Sony, but we should still be looking at a strong opening for the film. Something like $18 million, but if Lionsgate can get some stories printed about audience members puking, then you can bump that up to $22 million.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Six Flags > Movies

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Sorry this is checking in a little late today but I’ve been at Six Flags all day having the time of my life. I hadn’t been since they opened a crazy new ride called Tatsu and it kind of blew my mind, but the X will always be the best ‘coaster. In any case, some movies came out this weekend too and performed with varying degrees of success.

    The number one movie, again, is “The Expendables.” Stallone and his fellow band of ‘roid Rangers dropped 53% to $16.5 million but took advantage of a terrible weekend to notch a second frame at the summit. The last time Sly was in a film that spent two weeks at the top was in 1993, when Wesley Snipes was huge and an unknown Sandra Bullock and Jack Black lent support in “Demolition Man.”

    “Vampires Suck” confirmed the absence of any justice or God in the world by opening in second place with $12.2 million. $18.6 million has already been conned out of America since Wednesday and I’m pretty sure that’s ten times the total amount of my top 10 favorite films of last year combined.

    “Eat Pray Love” takes the bronze, dropping 48% to $12.0 million. Don’t be surprised if this is the real runner-up when actuals are released and even though that drop might seem harsh, “Julie & Julia” did almost exactly the same before leveling out and sticking around through early September.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Stop giving Friedberg & Seltzer your money!

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Alright guys. Enough is enough. The only thing less funny than a spoof movie made by Friedberg & Seltzer is the conceptual gag that America keeps playing where we ironically buy tickets to see them. Just to make fun of it, of course. Only problem is we’re giving them real money and they are super rich and successful, despite being the worst thing to happen to filmmaking since, well, ever.

    “Vampires Suck” leads a gaggle of new releases this week and it’s actually already been out since Wednesday. The beyond tired spoof racked up $6.4 million in two days and should be on course for another $14 or $15 million during the weekend. The last time these two got behind a camera was “Disaster Movie,” which epic failed at the end of summer 2008 and gave hope that these clowns would never work again. But that film was their only one released by Lionsgate, not Fox, and they didn’t know how to market the gold placed in their hands.

    Focusing on the biggest phenomenon in film isn’t a bad idea either to get back on track. Congratulations America. You’ve made a scene where something large falls out of the sky and lands on the Old Spice Guy on a horse a part of cinema box office history (note: I have not seen “Vampires Suck” but I’ll eat my hat if that scene isn’t in it).

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