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Damn, I was hoping word-of-mouth would help Rambo hold up a little better than that.

Oh, and I might be forgetting something obvious, but is this the first 3-D movie to debut at #1 in 50 years? Maybe Friday the 13th Part 3-D or Jaws 3-D did?

Torture porn never holds up well. Those movies always drop fast and hard.

Will Hannah start a trend -- more concerts in 3D? Higher movie ticket prices?

Yes! Jessica Alba CANNOT open a movie! Yes!

They're charging $15 a ticket for the Montana concert flick in Cleveland. What's the pricetag in LA or NYC???
Considering everything--minimal advertising, two years on the shelf, etc.--that's really not THAT horrible an opening day figure for "Strange Wilderness," lol. Hey, at least it did (slightly) better than the heavily promoted "Over Her Dead Body" (which I correctly predicted would be d.o.a.)!
Except for Ms. Cyrus, this is the most depressed looking batch of Friday estimates so far this year. Is it the weather? Super Bowl fever? Or is just a bunch of underwhelming-seeming new titles?
Things should pick up considerably next weekend with "Fool's Gold" (which definitely looks bound for b.o. gold) and (to a somewhat lesser degree) the Martin Lawrence flick. The ridiculopusly extended "Valentine's Weekend" figures (a 5-day "weekend:" how clever!) should see some major heat, too.

Oops: that was supposed to read:
"ridiculously extended 'Valentine's Weekend.'"
Sorry for the typo.

Yeah, they're charging $15 a ticket in NY too, and that's regardless of whether it's for a child or adult... but remember that in NY, that's not *that* much more than normal ticket prices which are already pushing $12.

HM at the Galaxy Monroe is $15, U23D is $14 at CN IMAX.

Disney has just added a 2nd week of Hannah Montana. New Jersey-based Clearview Cinemas is promoting the holdover right now on its website.

The Manhattan theaters with Hannah have plenty of seats available for tonight. Suburban megaplexes are sold out or close to it.

BTW, tickets for Hannah are $15 each regardless of age or location.

Re - The Eye... $12-15 million all by herself is a pretty decent number for Jessica Alba. And it really was all about her and the genre. The ads gave you nothing in terms of plot, story, or character. It sold mood, horror, and Alba. Back in the mid-to-late 90s, Drew Barrymore and Kurt Russell thrived on similar figures. As long as the budget was low, Lionsgate will make money on this one.

The last 3D number one opening was 2003, when Spy Kids 3D opened to $33 million in late July.

Last note... I saw Untraceable last night and was stunned by two things.

A) It's terrible, which is surprising since I've liked every other Gregory Hoblit film over the last 12 years. Really dumb and just plain lazy.

B) For all the hand wringing about how Saw/Hostel/etc represent the downfall in the morality of our nation's youth, this entry, which is seemingly aimed at 'mature grownup's was actually far more gruesome and disgusting. Literally 25% of the film was just us watching some hapless victim being very slowly tortured to death. It was genuinely unpleasant in a way that the alleged "torture-porn" was not. And, ironically, the characters found in Saw II and III and even Hostel II were actually more three-dimensional and interesting than this garbage.

Scott Mendelson

You've got to feel a little bad for Paul Rudd.
His Amy Heckerling-Michelle Pfeiffer movie, "I Could Never Be Your Woman," is going straight to dvd, but the embarrassing "Over Her Dead Body" actually managed to make it into theaters--with beaucoup fanfare--and died a quick death.
For what it's worth, the Heckerling pic is actually pretty decent with strong work by Rudd and Pfeiffer. Too bad it got screwed over by Philippe Martinez (terrific story about what happened to the movie in the new EW).

My question is why was Alba not on the poster of The Eye? Sure that's a relatively creepy one-sheet, but if this movie is about Alba and the genre, why not have her pretty little face on it?

Btw, has anyone seen "Bordertown"? PU indeed.
No wonder it went straight to home video. This is a career-worst peformance by J-Lo (and yes, I'm counting "Gigli), and I'm a little stunned at how abysmally directed it is (by the formerly esteemed Gregory Nava). The almost invisible presence of Antonio Banderas (who has the film's second biggest role) on the dvd box is curious, but understandable. I don't blame him for not wanting his name attached--except in the fine print--to such a lameass turkey. It's even worse than that awful movie he did with Rebecca DeMornay back in'95 (drawing a blank on the title, but I'm pretty sure that it was released by Sony).
I was, however, pleasantly surprised by a couple of other dvds I caught up with this past week that were barely released (i.e., they never made it to northeastern Ohio) last year.
"The Nines," "Right at Your Door," "Mr. Untouchable" and "Ira and Abby" are all definitely worth a rental. Even the quasi-sleazy "Trade" with Kevin Kline (!?) seems like "El Norte" or "The Motorcycle Diaries" (it actually shares the same screenwriter as "MD") compared with "Bordertown."

The posters with Jessica Alba, which you can see here:

http://www.comingsoon.net/imageGallery/The_Eye/The_Eye_2.jpg

Were awful

So much for the supposedly good word of mouth that accompanies Rambo.

Okay, it's apparently official: I'm the only one who remembers Michael Apted's BLINK, about a blind female violinist who gets cornea transplants and then begins having ghostly "visions." The Pangs merely ripped this off for THE EYE (knocking off US films is not uncommon in HK), and then Cruise/Wagner foolishly paid them a fortune for the remake rights to their purloined property. Jeez, does everybody get amnesia once a picture is more than 4 or 5 years old?

i recall blink being a good flick but it did squat at the box office, so it was ripe for being ripped off without anyone noticing.

I vaguely remember "Blink:" it starred Madeleine Stowe during her fleeting 15 minutes of fame, and (if my memory serves me correctly) the consistently undervalued Aidan Quinn. Thanks for pointing out its similarities to the Pang Bros. flick.
But you've got to admit that the Pangs did it better (and with a lot more style) than journeyman Apted.

Blink had great music.

OHDB...yet another bomb for New Line. Ouch. Didn't they just bring in some new hotshot marketing guy from F/X too? Doesn't seem to be helping. Does it comes as a shock though? That was one of the worst trailers I've seen in years.
They could have at least focused a bit more on Paul Rudd, who I'm guessing is the only tolerable part of the whole movie.

Strange Wilderness, aka Grandma's Boy II. Figured it would do a bit better if for no other reason than that it has Jonah Hill, hot off of Knocked Up and Superbad.

I'm betraying my age or ignorance, maybe both, but who or what is this "Happy Madison" who is "presenting" "Strange Wilderness"?

Happy Madison is Adam Sandler's Production Company

Happy Gilmore + Billy Madison = Happy Madison.

Thanks, Anghus. In fact, that was my first guess, but after I remembered it was "Happy Gilmore" and not "Happy Madison" I decided that wasn't it after all.

That's terrible news for Alba. The Eye was picked up and initially fast tracked during the early J-Horror remake days of The Ring. It's been toiling for years with her attached under the promise she could open as well if not better than Gellar with Grudge. I think she did half. And Alba's handlers were a major headache when it came to the FF A&M so they could claim she was the main player and not part of an ensemble.

At this point, she's about three movies away from being Love Hewitt or Silverstone.

And I cannot believe the massive Cloverfield drop, again. What has this dropped since opening weekend, 125%?!

I'm surprised Cloverfield is still playing in theaters, to be honest. What's the surprise with the drop? I would say that 95% of its audience saw it on opening weekend. Same with Rambo. And this is precisely why upcoming films like GI Joe, He-Man and other toys (sorry, I mean tv shows) will suffer the same fate. The "so uncool it's cool again retro 80s" ideas being produced in the sausage factory out here deserve no better. I'm even inclined to put Speed Racer into this category.

The De Mornay/Banderas film from '95 was called Never Talk to Strangers. In that same year he also co-starred with Melanie Griffith in Two Much, which was also risible.

Got that same feeling about Speed Racer. Or it could have Dick Tracey numbers. Then again, for some unexplainable (at least to me) there's tons of fans for Moulin Rouge, Spy Kids 3 and 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Beowulf was numero uno last November 16-18, with $27 mil. I'm sure the $15 IMXAX 3-D tickets had a hand in that.

Why is anyone remotely surprised that the sequel nobody asked for to an '80s franchise had a big second week drop off the week of the superbowl?

How is a $12mil opening for The Eye anything other than fairly decent. The Grudge was four years ago, right? Right at the peak of J-Horror (what with The Ring as well) and it had better marketing. While it's pretty obvious that Alba isn't going to become a Will Smith type opener any time soon, I can't see how this opening is terrible. And considering The Eye isn't as blandly broad as another recent Superbowl opening When a Stranger Calls...

Still, I ain't seeing it. Talk about three years too late, yeesh.

Most Manhattan theatres appeared to be selling out of Hannah Montana for pre-8 PM shows today. (Of course, Union Square also managed to sell out No Country, Atonement, and There Will Be Blood--preventing me from finally getting around to them.)

And Fandango has tix on sale in NYC for Hannah Montana through the 14th.

Two Muck came out in '96, not '95. '95 saw Banderas finally getting his first major English-language vehicle with Desperado. He even got an EW cover story. One of the many problems with Never Talk to Strangers was it was the third serial-killer-thriller in less than 8 weeks. Both Se7en and Copycao had already come out. Talk about overkill.

How many people think now would've been the best time to release Into the Wild. Opening wide in January (after a qualifying run in December) feels like it might've had a shot at better numbers.

Who wants to bet Across the Universe turns out to be one of the top selling DVDs of the year?

Ah yes! "Never Talk to Strangers;" yikes!
And "Too Much" (waaayyyy too much--wasn't that by the Spanish director of the Oscar-winning "Belle Epoque"?) are both heavy-duty Banderas stinkers.
I agree with Jimmy that "ATU" is going to be one of the year's top selling dvds: said that myself last fall when it showed surprising strength in theaters. Can't wait to check out the Taymor extras myself.
Not sure whether holding "Into the Wild" for a December platform/January wide release would have made much of a difference in the long run. Oscar antipathy seems more of a Penn thing than a case of amnesia. It's kind of surreal that P-Vantage's "TWBB" is now opening in more theaters than the more audience-friendly (really) "ITW" ever did. Of course, it's all about the AA nominationss at this point.

Two Much had its worldwide debut with a Spanish release in '95, and was then released in '96 in the US.

KamCam - Ya know, after checking the downward slide of Spooky Girl openings, I have to take my original comment back. Alba beat Pulse and Dark Water by 4-5M each, so if the budget is in the 30M range, she will have done pretty well. I was under the impression the sliding scale of J remakes hadn't dipped that far down already.

Dark Water was a bigger disaster than I realized.

Aris: TRANSFORMERS. You act as if Optimus Prime didnt make a mint over a whole week last Summer. You also fail to see the obvious hole in your whole rant... HE-MAN and GI JOE are two properties that must be radically changed to be turned into movies. That alone puts them at a disadvantage for being anything other then ass.

I was replying to the question of why the drop-offs to these films are so steep, why they have "no legs". At some point, these fan-boy films will be disastrous for studios.

I am very aware that a movie can make 150 million in its first (and pretty much only) week, thank you.

If Alba is responsible for The Eye opening to (an estimated) $13 million, is Shannyn Sossamon the reason for One Missed Call's $12.5 million opening weekend?

Boter: New Line has "Over Her Dead Body" only for the US, so they won't be on the hook.

Disney's reporting almost $30m for Hannah this weekend. Biggest screen average ever. Biggest Super Bowl opening ever. Biggest etc ever.

Is it just me or are kids today more lame they used to be? I was a pre-Teen in the 90's and some of the music and films were kinda dorky, but the popular stuff was Nirvana, Sublime, Pearl Jam (eventually giving way to bands like Limp Bizkit) and the movie every kid in my middle school loved was Pulp Fiction. Now kids love High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Fall Out Boy. What is with the emo-ization of this country's youth?

Noah:

Spoken like a true member of a bygone generation trying to make sense of those who come after him! Though I agree 100%, I wondered when the day would come where I just didn't get it.

Hannah Montana's target demo is 5-12 year old girls, not middle schoolers, but nice old-man whine nonetheless, Noah.

And let's not forget Noah's vaunted era of the early nineties included The Flintstones earning $130m domestically, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers getting a $13m opening weekend and Honey I Blew Up the Kids dominating the end of summer in 1992.

Wrecktum, that may indeed be the target audience, but there is definitely a lot of love for Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers among the 12-16 year old set and I just long for the days when those same girls would be listening to No Doubt.

ManWithNoName: exactly. I've finally reached that point where I've become "that guy" who doesn't understand kids today.

there's always some teen act that hits that 5-12 year old market Noah. Wrecktum hit the nail on the head. These aren't high schoolers, middle schoolers, or college kids.

This is the age group that made Hillary Duff huge awhile back and continues to make stuff like High School the Musical megablockbusters.

But they've always been around. You have the Jonas Brothers right now who are huge, but ask anyone over the age of 13, and i doubt many people would have heard of them. Before that there was N Sync and New Kids on the Block. Before that there was Leif Garrett, David Cassidy, The Osmonds, etc. etc.

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is nothing new, but they've aced the formula this time out. The kind of money they're going to make off this movie is ridiculous, especially considering what little it cost to put it all together. This could be the most profitable movie of the year.

Am I the only one who remembers New Kids on the Block? Hannah Montana and High School Musical aren't a fraction as stupid.

Ah, I missed your second post Wrecktum. To that I'll just say: family films always make money. Also, those films were popular for a younger set. High School Musical and Hannah Montana are full-blown phenomenons amongst younger teenagers. Some kids I knew watched Power Rangers, but they put those toys aside once they got older. I know people who are just a few years younger than me who can't get enough High School Musical (which has the words "high school" right in the title, which speaks to the idea that perhaps high school-aged kids are part of the target audience).

Anghus, I'm definitely not saying this is "something new", but like you said "they've aced the formula this time out." It seems more artificial to me (which of course has to do more with me getting older than anything in the system changing) and Disney was always seen as lame when I was growing up. Now kids are flocking to every product they put out.

Your anecdotal evidence is interesting, Noah, but hardly relevant. From what I've seen, nearly 50% of audience members for Hannah this weekend were under 12 and almost 90% of the audience was female. In other words, the exact demographic I already described.

As for High School Musical, it does skew older, but not by much. I've always seen its success as similar to Grease, which appealed to the same audience.

"Disney was always seen as lame when I was growing up. Now kids are flocking to every product they put out."

The Disney Channel was considered lame, but Disney itself wasn't. Remember that was the era of Aladdin and The Lion King. Disney was considered COOL back then.

The Disney Channel was eclipsed by Nickelodeon for the younger set, but they've changed that significantly in the past decade. Remember Rugrats? I'm sure you've blocked it out of your memory, but it was massively successful during the period you're fondly misremembering.

Up until a month ago, I had never heard of this Hanna Montana cult. I really despise it when my ignorance comfort level gets so severely disrupted. Now I have to read about Hanna from Montana (?) on every single film site I visit. Sometimes information sucks, and yes, ignorance can be bliss.

Josh:

Heard of them? Heck, who isn't excited for their rumored reunion!!!!!

Noah:

Complete aside, but I loved your Woody Allen piece. Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite Allen flick?

I know I'm probably a cliche, but I love Annie Hall. Not only my favorite of his, but my personal favorite of all time.

Wrecktum, I can only speak from my experience, so I don't think I'm "misremembering" anything. I remember kids enjoying Aladdin and The Lion King, but I don't remember anybody thinking they were "cool". Either way, these new acts are all culled from the Disney Channel, which was always considered lame (although I have a soft spot for Kids, Incorporated starring Fergie).

But more than anything, I love that more than anything I was lamenting the fact that I've gotten to the point in my life where I don't understand the kids anymore and you're trying to prove that I'm wrong. Look, I know that there is nothing new under the sun (vanity, vanity, all is vanity) and that there have been various acts that paved the way for this, etc.

I think this time around, the "kiddie" acts are creeping into the "tween" market. As you said, Hannah Montana is skewing from the ages of 5 to 12. Well, when I was 12 years old, I didn't like many of the same things that five and six year olds did. But perhaps the Disney branding has just gotten more effective, like Big Tobacco: hook 'em while they're young.

ManWithNoName: thanks for the compliment. I would tend to agree with you about Annie Hall being a favorite (for various sentimental reasons), but I also really love Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters. All three, though, are perfect blends of comedy and pathos. I'd be tempted to put the crushing Husbands and Wives on there or Broadway Danny Rose or maybe Zelig, etc. There are so damn many to choose from!

Disney has been honing its appeal to the tween girl set for awhile, and this is the payoff. You're right, by the way that 12 year olds and six year olds traditionally don't enjoy the same thing.

Disney has been able to manufacture product that opens up boths sides of the tween market, so to a degree, you're right. I think it's a definite strategy that you've picked up on.

That said, Disney movies were certainly cool back in the early '90s. Just not to boys your age. In fact, that's what I think is the main problem with your argument; boys traditionally don't fall for the Disney "cult" (as Aris P just called it). But girls do in droves.

I think you've definitely hit the nail on that point about the differences between the sexes and perhaps that's what makes it so confusing to me. When I was 10 and 11, I always wondered what girls were doing behind closed doors. Now I know; they were watching Disney.

Re: Woody Allen, I have a soft spot for Sweet and Lowdown, in which Sean Penn gives a great performance as his own musical Daniel Plainview.

Noah, I think the audience for Nirvana skewed a little older than you remember (i.e. high schools and older) and the audience for High School Musical skews a little younger than you think (i.e. middle school and younger).

But even if you put that aside, you've got a little selection bias going. You're remembering the best of your youth.

You and I are roughly the same age, I think-- remember how awesome The Crow soundtrack was? Most of it would probably be kind of lame if we went back and listened to it today.

^Yeah, Nirvana was definitely a high school and older phenomenon. I was in that demographic when they broke. Correct also about selection bias. Someone already mentioned that's the typical complaint of the the generation being replaced.

Can't speak to Hannah Montana or High School Musical (though it kills me to admit I'm old enough to have a kid in either target audience, in the former more plausibly). I can only imagine what I'll be exposed to if I have kids. Hmmm, may have to reconsider the whole kids thing.

WHY WOULD ANYONE BE ANTI-ALBA?

SHE'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET, and anyone who isn't 10000% down with her is a complete douchebag.

Although she IS pregnant at the moment; Wonder if that hurt the b.o., since no one wants to think of THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED ACTRESS IN ALL OF HISTORY being some MOM.

KNOW IT

BLACKCLOUD, you were in high school when NIRVANA was big, but you have KIDS now?

REALLY? Why would anyone under 40 have children?

Until a man becomes a millionaire, a movie star, or a rock god, he should hold out so he can FUCK MODELS.

BE A GOD

The Eye is not a remake of a Japanese movie. The original is a Hong Kong-Thai collaboration.

I totally predicted the near 70% fall for Rambo and I'm glad that I was right.

Lex, I was being literal when I said I'm old enough to have a kid in the HSM demo. (Would be a stretch, though.) I could easily have one in the Hannah Montana bracket, which I'm guessing is the 8-12 range. But, I don't have kids in either, since I don't have kids. And I was on the older side of "high school and older" for Nirvana, but only just. To put it in context, Nirvana's fame coincided almost entirely with my undergrad years.

Why would someone have kids under 40? So you have enough energy to chase after 'em, I suppose. And, too, so that you're still young enough to remember what it was like to be young as they are, so that you're not totally alienated from them. It's only am impression, but it seems to me that parents are definitely a minority among posters here. Probably because most of the posters are on the youngish side.

As much as I'm sure the parents of Hannah Montana devotees are sick of listening to her, I'm relieved that kids that age are listening to her and watching that instead of The Pussycat Dolls or whatever.

I've seen a few episodes of the show over Summer (it's summer here, obviously) and while it's incredibly broad and over-the-top, Cyrus is a likable enough girl and I hope she doesn't become another drugged out psychopath when she gets older.

And, yeah, my generation's cheese moment was stuff like Hanson (i detested them, but I did/do looove The Spice Girls). So as much as I'd love to say everyone I went to school with was down with stuff like the Smashing Pumpkins' Melon Collie and the Infinate Sadness, they most definitely were not. I had to fight for a week to be able to buy that album because of the parental guidance sticker on it. I got my way by arguing that my brother was able to buy Denis Leary's "Asshole" on cassingle something they - apparently - did not know about. :P

Also, strange that you should be talking about Nirvana. I (re)bought Nevermind just a few days ago. I stood on my last copy when moving house two years ago and never go another.

Since we're on Nirvana, allow me to be controversial. "In Utero" = Top 10 albuns of the '90s. "Nevermind" = overrated.

*albums

I'll do you one better -- "Incesticide" is the best of their 4 studio albums.

Does that count as an album? I thought it's a rarities/B-sides compilation.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

"In Utero" it is, then.

"Now kids love High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Fall Out Boy. What is with the emo-ization of this country's youth?"

Easy answer. Marketing people have won. They have persuaded people to brag about their personal "brand" as a form of actual identity.

Whereas it was once uncool and whoring for bands to do ads, they stumble over themselves to be in Mickey D commercials (Hi Justin!) and be sponsored by Nokia. The new generations grow up in this uber-commodified environment, supported by lazy parents who think Disney is a form of childhod development.

If you've ever had the dubious honor of seeing a Disney focus group, you'd be horrified (or thrilled) by the parents who brag endlessly about dragging their kids to whatever crap Disney puts out, or the thousands of dolars they spend ata Disny store and ohmygod when is the next Disney thing coming out so we can further homogenize our youth.

Or somethin' like that.

I always think of what Kenneth Anger said:
"Disney is the Hitler of youth."

BTW, if you think High School Musical and Hannah Montana are even remotely "emo" then you're sorely mistaken.

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