A 'Wild' weekend at the box office awaits

By Sarah Sluis

Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze's children's movie that's much different from what we've come to expect from children's movies, will open today in a huge 3,735 screen release. Besides kids, the movie has a huge fan base of 20 and 30-somethings who grew up with the Maurice Sendak book. The fact that Jonze's adaptation is regarded as "adult" could help bring in those crowds. Critical reception has been mixed, and it's uncertain whether theatregoers will relay the good or bad parts of the film to their friends. This weekend, projections are putting the film's weekend take at $25 million, and its release in IMAX should help bring it to that number.

Law Abiding Citizen (2,899 theatres) may have a mere 16% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but according to critic Kirk Honeycutt, the thriller "create[s] sufficient tension and intrigue to hook viewers along with a photogenic, hard-working cast," making it a likely candidate for a solid, if unimpressive box-office performance.

Starring teen heartthrob Penn Badgely from "Gossip Girl," The Stepfather (2,734 theatres) is wish fulfillment for children of divorced parents. Because when your stepfather yells "Your Mother said 'Turn that down,' son," it really means he's a psycho serial killer who marries divorced women then kills off their families.

The teen horror movie could have some competition from Paranormal Activity, which is expanding to 760 theatres this week. If it were to replicate its $49,000 per screen from last week, it would bring in $37 million. While it's unlikely to maintain that per-screen level when it expands, I wouldn't be surprised if it creeps much closer to Where the Wild Things Are than expected.

On the specialty front, New York, I Love You releases in 119 theatres. Our critic Erica Abeel found it to be better than Paris, Je T'Aime, noting that "most of these linked 'shorts' succeed remarkably in nailing the serendipitous flavor of love, New York-style." Newbie distributor Apparition will release blaxploitation parody Black Dynamite in 70 theatres. Critic James Greenberg appraised that "even if it's a one-joke movie that runs out of steam, director Scott Sanders manages to keep the gag going for 90 minutes," though he wondered if younger audiences who didn't grow up with blaxploitation would get the joke.

On Monday we'll see if Where the Wild Things Are made audiences roar as loudly as predicted, if Paranormal Activity's screams died down or amped up, and whether Law Abiding Citizen and The Stepfather were able to entice those interested in a run-of-the-mill thriller or horror movie.