'Inception' gears up for a dream weekend

By Sarah Sluis

One of the most anticipated movies of the summer, Inception, rolls into 3,792 theatres today. Many in the industry are pegging the movie's opening at $50-60 million, though I think Inception's long-term box

office potential is much higher. It's one of the few wholly original movies coming out this summer, but also has a level of built-in appeal due to the popularity of its director, The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan. If it plays its cards right, I think it could be one of those pictures that brings in people who only go to the theatre for "big" movies. Reviews have been largely positive, with Film Journal's critic Maitland McDonagh declaring Inception "a superior summer movie, one with heart and brains and loads of razzle-dazzle." Some have faulted the movie for being overly complex in terms of plot, but not enough in terms of emotions. Dana Stevens at Slate summed it up by saying, "At the end of Inception, I hadn't lived through the grueling emotional journey Nolan seemed to think I had, but I'd seen a bunch of cool images and admired some technically ambitious feats of filmmaking." For a summer movie, that's pretty much all you can ask for.

After opening on Wednesday to $3.8 million, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (3,504 theatres) is expected to end up in the $30 million range for the weekend. Our critic Ethan Alter suspected that producer Jerry

Bruckheimer was trying to give Nicolas Cage a Jack Sparrow-worthy role as an "extended apology to [his] frequent collaborator." Cage isn't in the best financial situation, and a career reboot a la Depp would be welcome. Too bad Cage's performance wasn't up to snuff. "Handed the golden opportunity to create his own Jack Sparrow, Cage whiffs and gives us one of the least memorable personalities in his gallery of eccentrics," Alter laments.

An under-the-radar release (though perhaps not among preteen girls), Standing Ovation will open in 623 theatres, most of them outside of the biggest cities. Just one theatre will carry the

movie in New York City, for example, compared to over eight in Houston. The singing & dance sequences in the trailer are impressive, especially given the ages of the performers. What kid will care about the clunky dialogue when there's an advertised "20 original songs and 14 original dance numbers"?

Returning release Despicable Me has been playing strongly through the week, thanks to the summer holidays, and should continue to do well at the box office. Platform releases Cyrus and The Kids Are All Right should continue to increase their revenue, with Cyrus likely to keep its spot in the top ten, while The Kids Are All Right will be unlikely to do so until it expands further.

On Monday, we'll circle back to analyze the first weekend of Inception, gauging the word-of-mouth on the action/sci-fi hybrid. And we won't forget about The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which is a strong pick for the second-place spot.