David Gorgos: Historically the slowest weekend of the year (last year's champ, The Covenant earned less than $9 million), the post Labor Day period actually features two fairly strong films: one Oscar® worthy, and one with cult potential. The just plain terrific 3:10 to Yuma (reviewed here earlier) expands on the original, and features riveting performances by the entire cast. Russell Crowe gets all the attention, but Christian Bale shines in a low-key, difficult role as the reluctant hero, while Ben Foster steals the show as a brutal henchman. It should open over $17 million, modest but solid, with strong prospects for future weeks.
The same can't be said for The Brothers Solomon, which doesn't even factor into the top ten list below. Opening on 650 screens, it's a semi-raunchy one-joke comedy that's limping onto 650 screens; I'm predicting just $1.2 million total.
Word on Shoot 'Em Up is just what you'd expect: the adrenaline of Crank and the hip starpower of Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti. Just over $10 million would be a respectable result.
The holdovers, meanwhile, usually dip 40-50% from the previous 3-day period. Football is finally in full swing, and school also takes a bite out of the attendance. In honor of hurricane season, consider it the eye of the storm between the fury of summer box office and the onslaught of critic-friendly winter fare.
Our Predictions
Theater counts obtained at www.boxofficemojo.com
Content © TLA Entertainment Group
3:10 to Yuma picture © Lions Gate
