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not pretty. Granted, "It's the movies, stupid" is a valid argument since a badly reviewed video game adaptation and a modestly marketed horse movie wouldn't necessarily guarantee big earnings. However.. this is an ugly weekend, after a number of ugly weekends. Studios are seeing a lot of red right now.

It's not pretty because the movies themselves just really stink.

Disastrous is more like it. MORTAL KOMBAT opened to $23 million ten years ago with commensurate hype and anticipation, *and* with worse reviews (actually, I think it may have forgone press screenings altogether). Obviously, video games have grown far more sophisticated since then (in fact, I really don't understand why games like DOOM and HALO are being adapted to film since their appeal is one of first-person immersion), but there's no excuse for this $80 - $100 million production to open under $20 million.

When does the box office recover with a $20 million-plus opening? Next week w/ either SAW II (possible) or ZORRO (highly unlikely)? Nov. 4th w/ JARHEAD or CHICKEN LITTLE?

When you say the line "the best it can do is Pay It Forward", I know it must be horrifically bad.

The truly Nasty thing has to be Stay, which seems certain to do less than 2M for a weekend despite a relatively starry cast, a prestige director, and a wide release. I'm a bit interested in how Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (with generally excellent reviews) and Shopgirl fared in limited, but we'll have to wait till tomorrow on that.

"Saw 2" goes to 20M next weekend. Remember that the original did 18 and was surprisingly leggy for a horror flick. Prime will perform merely OK, and Zorro 2 is IMHO going to be a substantial BO disappointment--it doesn't have the "big summer flick" traction the original got.

I saw Zorro this morning. 130 minutes of torture. It's going for the kids. Drunken, belching horses and an annoying kid. Lots of slapstick.

There's a good chance that the teens who wanted to see Doom simply bought tickets for Dreamer and The Fog and then snuck into it. We might see the same thing next week with Saw II

Oh, and I think Prime is going to be a megaflop...Saw II wins the weekend followed by Legend of Zorro

"It's not pretty because the movies themselves just really stink."

Maybe except that the movies that really stink like The Fog and Flightplan are doing the best, although I've yet to find anyone who liked either movie

fog's 46% drop would be explained by underage Doom fans getting in through the loophole. Saw 1 opened to "only" $18 mill. because it opened weekend after Grudge (if I remember right) and the horror crowd available was less than usual. Saw 2 may well open as well as the first one, which considering recent b.o. #'s, would be a success. Prime looks like completely the wrong movie from the Boiler Room guy.

The Fog is hardly doing the best. It's performing like any mid-level crappy horror movie.
Flightplan, meanwhile, is quite entertaining as long as you don't think about it too hard.

I know it seems like flogging a dead horse but can I change my comment of ELIZABETHTOWN will be lucky to ooze to 35m like lung butter to probably crawling into its own grave at 25m - thank you. Also I think SAW 2 is going to open quite strong. Forget the 18m of the original - i diagnose this ultra-grim LG tale opening at 22m+

Doom is rated R????

Are they out of their fucking minds?

It never even occured to me that this was an R rated movie.

Well... they're lucky to get to $15 million then, I'd say.

It's not that I don't believe that R rated movies can perform like crazy, but for a property like this? Released by a major studio? Next thing those crazy fruitcakes'll try is a live action Thunderbir.... oh.

The weakness of Doom and The Fog should lead to a very strong opening for Saw 2.

They were out of their minds when they actually greenlit the damn thing, honestly. Even as a gamer who's of age, I'm not touching that thing with a ten-foot pole. Hell, I'd much rather see a Wolfenstein 3-D movie. Blasting Nazis can make for some decent trash entertainment, and zombie Nazis later on to boot. But at least this means no Daikatana movie.

the doom audience is primarly 12-22 yr old boys, with the R they cut about half their audience. Perhaps a $25 mill. opening would have been in the cards with a PG-13.

Also I figured Doom would make at least $30 based on the fact that the resident evil movies opened to about $20 apiece, and RE isn't exactly the huge property that doom is/was. But I don't think the marketing on Doom was ever able to turn around the feeling in the air that the movie was a piece of crap. Not sure when/why that feeling started, but the less than compelling trailers didn't help. It may also be that Doom is best-loved by the gamers of 5-10 yrs ago, not the gamers of today.

It's rated R!!!

Wow. Can someone tell me if they take full advantage of it? I'm totally up for some over the top Dusk Till Dawn-style trash.

Why would they release Doom rated R?

Dumb upon dumb.

I only see G rated movies with violence. It's a rule.

Further to the RESIDENT EVIL comment, both of those films were rated R, too. DOOM should've certainly made more than $20 million even with its rating.

Maybe Resident Evil is a better move than Doom. Might not be so hard to believe.

I really enjoyed Flight Plan,no apologies here. I passed on The Fog,just waiting for Saw 2,which I believe will open to at least $25 million. I saw the premier on Monday of North Country. Well the acting is superb(no suprises there)but the story seemed contrived and predictable(ok it was based on a true story),it was ok, I would mildly recommend it though. Kind of shocked it couldn't pull in about $10 million,I thought the cast would attract a few more... guess not. Eric

Josh, remember what DP always says: the quality of a movie has nothing to do with its opening weekend.

Saw 2 25 mill? That might be a tad too optimistic. Resident Evil posting up a huge # means quality has nothing to do with BO. DP is right on.

I'm only 20, but I don't play computer games, but even I think the idea for a Doom computer game is old. That game had it's moment years ago. Why bother now?

Kurt Russell should be happy with Dreamer's numbers! But is it possible that even little girls are starting to think Dakota is a creepy alien intent on taking over the world?

North Country was always going to be a tough one because the film itself was apparently not really good enough to sustain a limited release pattern and then expand, nor was the premise strong enough to garner a big-ish opening. And because Theron's perf wasn't "revelatory" like Monster's was to a lot of people, there isn't that curiosity factor (that worked for Halle Berry and Monster's Ball. A bad movie with an over glorified leading perf from a previously un-oscary actress).

As for next weekend? I'm thinking low 20s for Saw II. Mid-High teens for Zorro and low teens for Prime. Prime has the extreme disadvantage of having not only one of the worst posters in recent memory (What's up with the look Meryl is giving on the poster?) but also a truly awful trailer! I swear they've actually included the final scene in the trailer!

(I'll still see it for Uma and Meryl though)

I've seen the whole Prime movie from a 2 minute trailer.

If North Country couldn't muster $10 for its opening weekend, there's no way Prime will do more than $5 or so. It's obviously adapted from a one-setting play.

But I think more people would trust a rom-com starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. I mean, it COULD very easily get $5mil opening but I doubt that. I mean, despite the fact that a lot of movies aren't doing that well, most of them are doing more than that! And with much less going for them than "Prime".

And as Angelus said, we've basically seen every thing from Prime in the trailer. In fact, the other night I went to see "In Her Shoes" and saw trailers for "Prime" "Elizabethtown" and some other movie in the same vein and all three trailers gave away everything including their ending. Lame.

I love both actresses but it feels like it's getting the same PR treatment as all the Miramax movies that just got dumped, like Proof or Unfinished Life. It goes to show: some of Hollywood's greatest actresses on parade in In Her Shoes/North Country/Prime, and they'll have a combined box office somewhere around that of The Island + Stealth.

I'm shocked that North Country didn't do better cause Warner Bros marketed the hell out of it...Charlize and Woody were everywhere promoting it...there were a lot of positive reviews ever since Toronto. David's right that this is going to be a disappointment, although they might have been better doing a limited release and expanding it later. (What they're doing with Syriana)

Prime won't make $5 million. Not sure why it's getting a wide release.

Hmmmm, I never understood the type of release pattern studios do to genre horror Halloween types like Saw II and Doom. They release them late in the month where they only have a week or two to capitalize, they do middling business and they repeat again next year.

Meanwhile Emily Rose came out in mid September and is still the highest grossing film of the fall season so far (unless FlightPlan narrowly overtakes it) and will be until Chicken Little comes out.

I can't see any films coming out before Thanksgiving really clicking.

The disappointment of North Country does not surprise. Again, quality aside, it fits very nicely into the been-there-done-that-but I wanna Oscar NOW category.

North Country is Lifetime Movie material made edgier for the big screen. This type of film could only work using a Miramax style Oscar campaign. Otherwise, why bother?

"North Country" was doomed from the getgo. Print ads and trailer -- strike 1. The bad review in the Village Voice -- strike 2. Playing alongside "Good Night, and Good Luck" -- strike 3, yerrrrrr OUT!

"Stay" opened outside the national top 10. Its ads resorted to name-checking just like "North Country". SNOB! FLOP!

"Shopgirl" averaged nearly $30K. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" averaged better than $20K.

"Prime" may be in trouble due to bad timing. Next week "Capote" finally goes national while "Good Night, and Good Luck" continues its slow-but-steady release.

EDouglas said: "There's a good chance that the teens who wanted to see Doom simply bought tickets for Dreamer and The Fog and then snuck into it." Theaters have been cracking down on that since the Columbine massacre. They don't want to get nailed by PR-hungry prosecutors or crucified by family-values groups.

NicolD said: "I can't see any films coming out before Thanksgiving really clicking." Harry Potter 4 will -- because it's a franchise.

North Country wouldn't have even been made without Charlize. It would be starring Judith Light on Lifetime.

If "In Her Shoes," with a sexier cast, better buzz, more money behind it, and generally very solid reviews, couldn't find a sweet spot, how the heck do people expect "Prime" to find a similar sweet spot?

It's a shame that "Shoes," one of the best American films of the year thus far (and probably the best "mainstream" film, as opposed to more upmarket fare, like "GN&GL" and "Constant Gardener") hasn't done better.

I still don't understand this rage against "Name-checking". It's like being angry at a milk ad for saying it contains calcium.

In Her Shoes one of the best films of the year? What else did you see? Doom and Dukes of Hazzard?

What's with these generic titles? "Stay"? "Prime"?

Generic titles for generic films.

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