A one-two-three punch of Friday the 13th, Valentine’s Day, and the Presidents Day holiday hits this weekend, and that should spell good news at the box office. Essentially, the battle will come down to one between horror fans (for whom a remake of Friday the 13th is on the docket) and love birds (who’ll get Confessions of a Shopaholic and the strong holdover He’s Just Not That Into You). Which side will win? Read on. (And please note: The projections below are for the three-day, Friday-to-Sunday span only.)
1. Friday the 13th — $34 million
Gosh, another installment in the Friday the 13th series is opening on Friday the 13th — what a cowinkydink! Lately, appetites have been big for this kind of horror remake. Just look at the first-weekend takes of 2003′s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ($28.1 mil), 2005′s The Amityville Horror ($23.5 mil), 2006′s The Omen ($16 mil), 2007′s Halloween ($26.4 mil), and last month’s My Bloody Valentine 3-D ($21.2 mil). Add in the fact that this is a weekend with two faux holidays and one real one — not to mention that release-date marketing gimmick — and we could be looking at some big returns.
2. Confessions of a Shopaholic — $21 million
Wedding Crashers scene stealer Isla Fisher stars in this adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s chick-lit fable. And guess who’s producing? None other than the action-movie master himself, Jerry Bruckheimer! Seriously. (Man, that almost makes me want to see it!) Considering how well He’s Just Not That Into You fared last weekend with that $27.8 mil debut, and how well femme flicks have been doing in general, the prospects here are good. Only caveats are that Confessions of a Shopaholic is debuting in about 700 fewer theaters than HJNTIY did, and it has stiffer competition, so its gross should be a bit lower than HJNTIY‘s.
3. He’s Just Not That Into You — $20 million
Seems like the perfect — or, maybe, perfectly ironic — movie for Valentine’s Day, huh?
4. Taken — $14 million
Liam Neeson’s action thriller has been a very big (surprise?) smash. It won its opening weekend walking away, and then it dropped a teensy 16.9 percent in its second frame. The film’s gross should be up around $70 mil by the time the weekend is over.
5. The International – $11 million
It’s a movie about international banking intrigue, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts and directed by Run Lola Run auteur Tom Tykwer — I’m so there! But does anybody else want to join me? On a weekend dominated by a horror movie and chick flicks and another thriller? In not a ton of theaters? At a time in history when the last thing people may want to watch is a movie about evil financial guys? Anybody? Anybody?
Okay, time for you to weigh in below!
More Box Office News:
He’s Just Not That Into You gets lots of love
EW.com’s Box Office Chart
Taken scores a touchdown
Paul Blart edges out Underworld 3 to win the weekend
Paul Blart: Mall Cop wins the weekend
addCredit(“John P. Johnson”)
Well I’m going to be watching ‘Friday the 13th’ (same as I watched ‘My Bloody Valentine’ the weekend IT opened .. throwing my support for Jared & Jensen at the box office instead of waiting to see the movies on DVD, which is what I usually do for horror movies).
What about Coraline? It did awesome bussiness last weekend. Expect repeat bussiness this weekend.
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pink panther should have opened this weekend instead — with 2 R rated movies opening, it would have seemed like a better fit.
If you haven’t seen MY BLOODY VALENTINE IN 3D — you don’t know how much fun you are missing — the best horror thriller for the year!
Coraline and The International for me this weekend, along with Frozen River on DVD (at last!).
Why do they have to remake or continue these horror movies?
Can’t they come up with something new!!?
Seriously! Another Friday movie????
Why ruin the classics!!??
They continue to remake horror movies ( and most remakes) because the originals have not been seen by today’s young audience. Most of these horror originals were made before 1990, when today’s 18 year olds were being conceived.
1) Fridat the 13th– 37 million (very strong marketing plus valentines and friday the 13th day– plus the great marketing. It might even end up making more… I see a possibility o it hitting the 40 millions….
2)HJNTIY–20 million. Word of mouth and the romance won’t hurt
3) confessions of a…– IIt looks good- it’s going to get teh females, but not this weekend, with valentines, guys aren’t going to want to see it. I have a feeling it will be around for a while….
3)Taken and the international– 14 million.
4) slumndog millionare– word of mouth has been stagering, and it should really peak this weekend with valentines day and the long weekend. 12 million.
Friday the 13th will be the first 40 million dollar opener of the year. This will be the biggest Valentine’s holiday weekend at the boxoffice in history. Every movie in the top 15 will perform well with the exception of the “P” movies. Both Pink Panther 2 and Push are going to experience Big drops.
I like political thrillers, I really do, but The International was a big disappointment (not quite as suicide-inducing as The Good Shepherd but still close). I saw a sneak peak of it and the movie overall was decent, but the ending was TERRIBLE. The ending, along with editing, can make or break a movie and the ending of The International didn’t just break it, it practically ripped it in two and sold it’s organs on the internet for low, low prices. Obviously the word-of-mouth about this movie hasn’t had the opportunity to travel yet. My prediction for this weekend’s Box Office gross is between $13 and 17 million. However, by the time the word about the crappy ending spreads to everyone by next weekend, the gross will probably be somewhere in the single digits, about $6-8 million (that’s half for those of you bad at math). I plan on seeing Friday the 13th on my favorite day (Friday the 13th, duh!) and I can guarantee it will make around $28-31 million this weekend.
Where’s the Friday the 13th review, EW???
Don’t forget about Coraline. There’s usually at least one kid’s movie in the top 5.
I just can’t go to the movies anymore. Tired of sitting behind the woman with 3 children who don’t belong in public let alone a movie theater. The talkers, the texters, the crying babies, the shouters, the munchers. Thanks. I’ll wait for Redbox.
I am waiting for the day that Nadya Suleman and her 14 sit down in front of me (haha).