A send-up stands up
It looks as if you are all in on the joke. Meet the Spartans, the spoof of last year’s 300, among others, topped the box office with $18.5 million, edging out Rambo by about $300,000. Spartans’ opening weekend is right in line with the openings of the last two year’s similarly minded spoofs, Date Movie ($19 million) and Epic Movie ($18.6 million).
The up side
No one movie dominated the frame, but the box-office as a whole enjoyed quite a run. The weekend was up about 20 percent from the same time period last year, according to the Los Angeles Times, pushing 2008’s year-to-date revenue 12 percent ahead of last year’s.
Bomb Squad
The Squad claims no new members this week. But if you’d like to relish in someone else’s return to Earth, you can take heart in the fact that last week’s record-setter, Cloverfield, saw its take tumble more than 68 percent last weekend, to $13 million. Of course, when everyone and his dog sees a movie in week one, a steep drop in week two seems rather logical.
Swami Sez
You win some, you guess horribly wrong on some.
Prediction: Cloverfield retains the title with $21 million.
Result: No repeat here, as Cloverfield finished No. 4.
Prediction: Rambo finishes a strong second with $19 million.
Result: Almost dead on — within a million bucks of the prediction.
The best of the worst
Gear up, folks — this may be the weakest movie weekend of the year (fortunately most of you will be watching the Super Bowl). Of the wide releases, there are two films that studios loved so much they didn’t want to share them with critics (The Eye, Strange Wilderness) and one (Over Her Dead Body) that most critics wish they didn’t have to watch. So what from this steaming pile will waft to the top?
Prediction: Let’s go with The Eye at $14.5 million.
Hannah rules again
One film that is guaranteed a solid opening is Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (try fitting that on a marquee). The film opens on a little under 700 screens, and the first week’s worth of tickets is virtually sold out. So let’s go with what should be a slam dunk and say …
Prediction: Hannah Montana … captures the highest per-screen average of any new release this weekend.
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