'Green Zone' leads this week's new releases

By Sarah Sluis

With four new movies competing for audiences' attention, this weekend will be a busy one at the box office. The number one film, however, is unlikely to change. After a hundred-million-plus opening weekend, Alice in Wonderland should stay in first place, earning at least $50 million in its second weekend.

Green Zone (3,003 theatres) appears to be the likely candidate for second place. Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon, the movie could be mistaken for a Bourne knockoff but ends up being far from it. What could have been the birth of the "action muckraker" genre, according to our critic Chris Barsanti, turns into a "bad drama" with a "time-compressed story that sacrifices believability." Close followers of the Iraq invasion and search for WMDs will be rewarded with characters strikingly similar to the original players.

The middling blue-collar comedy She's Out of My League (2,956 theatres) details a romance between a TSA employee (Jay Baruchel) and "a rich, nice, gorgeous law-school grad turned high-end party planner" (Alice Eve). While our critic Frank Lovece praised the movie's performances and male bonding, he felt the movie didn't gel, lacking that je ne sais quoi: chemistry.

The other comedy on the plate is a PG-13 tale of nuptial hijinks, Our Family Wedding (1,605 theatres). Starring the lovely America Ferrera from "Ugly Betty," along with Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia, the movie lacks the kind of comedic sparkle that would make it great, but according to THR critic Sheri Linden, "there's a sweetness to the silliness that's likely to find a warm welcome." With such a small release, and not much of a marketing campaign to speak of, this movie could either be a surprise performer or a theatrical release that serves primarily as a platform for DVD sales.

Romantic drama Remember Me (2,212 theatres) makes a play for the hearts of Twilight fans, to some success. Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin ("Lost") co-star as NYU students and lovers who have both experienced the death of a family member. As they bond over their shared sense of loss, another historical tragedy steps in to finish up the plot. Hint: it's set in New York City during the summer of 2001. Whether this movie over- or under-performs at the box office will say a lot about Pattinson's star power.

On Monday we'll circle back to see where these four releases fell in the top ten (hopefully they all make it there), and grumble a little about our loss of one whole hour to Daylight Savings Time.