'Secretariat' races against 'Life as We Know It,' 'My Soul to Take'

By Sarah Sluis

As The Social Network heads into its second week, it will receive tough competition from Life As We Know It, Secretariat, and My Soul to Take.

Life as We Know It (3,150 theatres) is a pretty typical romantic comedy, with such tepid reactions as "formulaic but intermittently charming" (Maitland McDonagh, FJI) and "well made for its corporate type" (Stephen Holden, New York Times). Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel star as antagonists forced to live with each other after they are named parents to a deceased couple's child. I'll bet a hundred bucks they fall in love! Despite the so-called image problem of Katherine Heigl, this comedy is the frontrunner of the weekend, if it can best the high teen millions number expected for second-weeker The Social Network.

Secretariat (3,072 theatres) may just be the dark horse this weekend. Though it's not tracking as well as Life as We Know It, its expected audience of Christians, older viewers, and families are not the kind of people that check out movies every weekend. Diane Lane stars as a housewife who leads a racehorse to the Triple Crown. Both Secretariat and Life as We Know It held sneak previews last Saturday, which could help boost the word-of-mouth buzz for opening weekend.

Wes Craven returns with My Soul to Take (2,572 theatres), a 3D serial killer film centering on a group of teenagers. Though the story rarely deviates from horror-movie expectations, it's well-made, suspenseful, and will offer particular appeal to younger viewers--if they can get past the R rating. Though two horror movies opened last weekend (Case 39 and Let Me In), each grossed just $5 million and shouldn't threaten the debut of My Soul to Take, which is projected to clear the $10 million mark.

The kid-in-a-mental-hospital comedy It's Kind of a Funny Story will open in 742 theatres, a number Focus chose due to positive responses among test audiences. I've been fearing this movie would flop like Charlie Bartlett, which opened to just $1.8 million after audiences failed to spark to its tale of a prescription drug-selling prepster trying to fit in. However, the popularity of stars Zach Galifianakis and Emma Roberts could make this move a more mainstream pick.

Tomorrow is John Lennon's birthday, and today audiences can catch Nowhere Boy (4 theatres), the story of Lennon as a teen. Critic Maitland McDonagh praised the coming-of-age story, but noted that "fans stand to be disappointed by the absence of band lore," with a few notable exceptions (e.g. a gate marked "Strawberry Fields")

Also in the mix is Stone (6 theatres), a cerebral thriller centering on a parole officer (Robert De Niro), a prisoner (Edward Norton), and the two's mutual relationship with the prisoner's wife (Milla Jovovich). The drama will be Overture's last release. Finally, the financial documentary The Inside Job (2 theatres) uncovers dirt on traders and their risky, thrill-seeking behavior inside and outside the office.

On Monday, the weekend race is over and the results will be in for the movie debuts featuring the following subjects: a prizewinning horse, teenagers in psych wards, couples bonding over baby poop and teenagers at the mercy of a serial killer.