‘Need for Speed’ to cruise into 1st place

Disney is expecting modest returns in the low-to-mid $20 millions for videogame adaptation Need for Speed this weekend, but those earnings should still be enough to propel the Aaron Paul star vehicle (pun not intended, we promise) to first place. The film has received terrible reviews (23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), not to mention, movies based on or inspired by videogames do not have a great track record of success (see: Max Payne, Doom). Nonetheless, the fanboy fan-base is a faithful one, and Aaron Paul, fresh off the final season of "Breaking Bad," will no doubt draw many fans in his own right.

Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club also opens wide this weekend. However, it will probably not take second place, or even third place. Those slots should go to holdovers Mr. Peabody & Sherman and 300: Rise of an Empire. Both films are expected to gross in the high-teens, while Club is tracking a little softer, in the mid-teens. Incredibly, Single Moms Club will mark director Tyler Perry’s 15^th movie since 2006. Nine of those films debuted to $20 million or more, although most featured Perry’s Madea character or opened over Easter weekend. Club fits neither criterion.

TV cult favorite Veronica Mars finally hits the big screen today. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, in which fans raised over $5 million, Mars will screen in 291 locations and via VOD. If everyone who contributed to the Kickstarter fund opts to see the movie in theatres, Veronica Mars could earn upwards of $2 million.

Ahead of its wide release next weekend, Jason Bateman’s feature directorial debut Bad Words opens in six locations in NY and LA. It will probably not beat or even meet the record-breaking per-screen average Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel achieved last weekend, although it may still enjoy a solid opening. As for Hotel, the feature expands to 66 locations and will likely take in $2 million or so.

Teens turn out for 'HSM3' and 'Saw V'

By Sarah Sluis

High School Musical 3: Senior Year won over the box office with an impressive $42 million opening, well
above expectations that put the film at $30 million plus.  That number was left to Saw V, which opened at $30.5 million.  Together, these films made almost twice as much as the remainder of the top ten, each of which earned between $2 and $7 million.  Even number three Max Payne didn't break the double digits, with a $7.6 million take that represented a 56% drop from last week.  Surely High School Musical 3 will be able to extend the success of its $40 million opening, at the very least matching the longevity of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, the surprise doggie hit that was number one two weeks in a row.  However, the film will face tougher competition from the Friday Halloween next week, which will have kids trick-or-treating instead of seeing movies.  G-rated Madagascar 2 and Disney's own Bolt (featuring the voice of fellow teen queen, Miley Cyrus) release in coming weeks, luring away younger audiences.

Pride and Glory debuted at an uneventful number five, earning a paltry $6.3 million.  On the specialty side, Changeling's limited release earned an impressive $33,467 per theatre, totaling $.5 million at 15 locations.  Critics have given so-so reviews to Eastwood's film, instead looking to Gran Torino, a film Eastwood directs and stars in, as the probable Oscar contender.  If Changeling excels at the box office when it expands into wide release this weekend, the voice of the ticket-buying audiences might put the film back in the running.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua, displaying remarkable longevity, held the number four spot, earning $6.9 million, bring its total to $78 million.  The Secret Life of Bees, in its limited release, placed at number six with a $5.9 million take.  Right below Bees, W. earned $5.3 million.

Eagle Eye fell a below-average 26%, coming in a million above Body of Lies' $4 million take.  Horror picture Quarantine dropped heavily due to competitor Saw V, and earned $2.5 million, barely squeaking above Fireproof (#11), the "Middle America" Christian-themed picture that has made most of its $23.6 million take outside of the top ten by posting minimal drops--only 17% this week--and successfully mobilizing churches to organize group viewings.

Full box office results available here.

'Max' is painful, 'Bees' has too much honey

By Sarah Sluis

Safely clear of the September dumping ground, this week has four wide releases--with only one, Max Payne, a phone-it-in stinker.  Our critic Ethan Alter wrote this of Max Payne: "a profound feeling of
laziness hovers over the entire picture, suggesting that it was as
joyless to make as it is to watch."

Poor Mark Wahlberg.  While 3,376 theatres will be out of commission screening this video game
adaptation, hopefully teen and twentysomething guys who bought the video game will instead choose to see Sex Drive, a Summit Entertainment release opening on 2,421 screens.  In a vote of confidence on its quality, the marketing campaign released the first ten minutes of Sex Drive (warning: this is R-rated material), and the film carries a brisk momentum out of the gate.  Director/writer Sean Anders does an understated, cinematic representation of an IM conversation that's worth checking out, projecting the conversation to the side in a way that feels natural and real.  The L.A. Times review also spoke to the integration of social technology in the movie, noting that "teen comedies that are remembered tap into something fundamental
about their time, and here Anders smartly finds a way for many of the
characters' most embarrassing moments to be somehow caught on tape" and end up on YouTube.

"Honey-glazed," "too much honey," "not the bees knees," The Secret Life of Bees also opens today on
1,591 screens--a strategic move that will pack or sell out theatres and encourage word-of-mouth reviews.  Critics haven't been able to resist using "honey" to describe this film, though some find the film exceeding their tolerance for glucose.  As a book club pick for groups across the country, the movie adaptation will undoubtedly attract women who've read the novel.  If they hold true to marketers' perceptions of female audiences, they won't make it a priority to see the film opening weekend, but will likely see it once the reviews from the friends start trickling in.  What is too sweet for reviewers is often just right for the Milk Duds crowd, so I predict this film will look better in its third week than its first.

Fewer Americans may have tuned in for the third presidential debate, but W., opening on 2,030 screens, plans to capture their attention at the box office.  In a surprising consensus, reviewers of W. have noted that the film goes out of its way to come off as--let me borrow a catchphrase from Fox News--fair and balanced.  Wisely limiting the scope of the film to origins, Stone portrays Bush's ascent to the White House as a bumbling and at times tragic accident.

The diversity of this week's lineup makes predictions a tough call.  I predict a pleasantly surprising take from Sex Drive, a top three finish for W. (this is pushing it), and for Max Payne to burn brightly this week before falling sharply.  As an action picture opening on over 3,000 screens, a number one finish seems probable, but I would like nothing better than for another one of these three pictures to make a statement by coming in at number one.