Theatres battle against Super Bowl with 'Big Miracle,' 'Chronicle,' and 'Woman in Black'

Apparently, Super Bowl weekend isn't the box-office ghetto it used to be. This weekend three films are vying for the top spot, and only one of them, Big Miracle, falls into the typical female/family counterprogramming slot.

Betting on big grosses Friday and Saturday, Fox is releasing the found-footage picture Chronicle (2,907 theatres). It centers on teen boys who have an encounter with an unknown thing that gives them superpowers. Since found-footage films usually correlate with the horror genre, this marks a creative departure. Critics have responded, giving the movie an 84% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating. Many estimate the superhero flick could earn up to $15 million this weekend.

Daniel Radcliffe plays a widowed lawyer who is closing up a household's estate in The Woman in Black (2,855 theatres), which is also expected to cross the seven-figure mark this weekend. Critic David Noh laments that the haunted house picture is "lacking in the essential element of surprise." I'll agree with that one. I'm a horror wimp but I didn't even jump once.  It's surprising the movie isn't that good given it's based on a book that has spawned a TV series, play, and radio show. While the adaptation is very cinematic, there were points when Radcliffe's character pored through long-forgotten files that I wish I could have spent time reading. I imagine the book devotes more time to unraveling the mystery through the papers left by the deceased's family.

The whale-saving, feel-good Big Miracle (2,128 theatres) is much better than the commercials suggest. Based on a 1988 news story about whales trapped under an expanse of ice in Barrow, Alaska, its Walkmans and retro costuming feel nostalgic, giving viewers a "not-so-distant look back at an era when three network anchors set the news agenda.” The PG-rated tale is a "family film adults will enjoy as much as their animal-loving kids," critic Kevin Lally concludes. On Sunday, the movie should do big business among non-football lovers, but I suspect the film won't open nearly as strongly as Dolphin Tale ($19 million) because of its muddled marketing. Its best hope will be if it can pull off something like Soul Surfer, which opened to $10 million and grossed four times that figure--though Soul Surfer had the added benefit of the faith-based audience.

Madonna's performing in the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend, and whaddayaknow, her second directorial effort, W.E. (4 theatres), is also making its debut. Noh was one of the few advocates of the historical romance, which he declares an "entertainingly fancy bauble of an ultimate chick flick." The story centers on the romance between Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne so he could marry the American divorcee.

On Monday, we'll find out if the Giants beat the Patriots and how much the Super Bowl made a dent in the Sunday grosses of Chronicle and its ilk.