'Snow White and the Huntsman' targets the top spot

It's the first weekend in June, and it's crowded with a month-long buildup of blockbuster releases. Snow White and the Huntsman (3,772 theatres) will have to compete against last week's Men in Black 3 and the behemoth The Avengers, which is still drawing in plenty of people thanks to its great word-of-mouth. Universal is giving a cautious low-to-mid $30 millions prediction for opening weekend, an estimate the Kristen Stewart-Chris Hemsworth-Charlize Theron picture will likely hit. Thankfully, Snow White and the Huntsman is clear of at least one liability. Mirror Mirror, the comedic Snow White picture that released this spring, took a completely different angle and was also not much of a success. The studio won't be battling fairy tale princess fatigue. As for the movie itself? FJI critic Daniel Eagan was not impressed, called it "both bloated and empty," and "grim, mostly humorless, and exhausting." I found myself wishing I were watching an episode of "Game of Thrones," and was less awed by the special effects than distracted by their encroaching ubiquity.

Aiming at Hispanic audiences, who are frequent moviegoers, For Greater Glory (757 theatres) is a sweeping Mexican historical war epic that will strongly appeal to this niche audience. Critic Shirley Sealy deems it "admirable but flawed," and sheepishly revealed she found the Wikipedia entry about the Cristeros War more interesting than the movie itself.

A tribute to B-movie horror, Piranha 3DD (86 theatres), will open in theatres and on-demand this weekend. The small theatrical release indicates this movie is eyeing the home market more than the theatre crowd, but the small release could yield a high per-screen average.

A few smaller movies will join the indie circuit this weekend. Pink Ribbons Inc. (3 theatres) explores the dark side and commercialization of breast cancer fundraising. Paul Williams Still Alive documents a filmmaker's search for his favorite minor celebrity, and Wish Me Away (2 theatres) follows country star Chely Wright as she comes out as gay.

On Monday, we'll see if Snow White intrigued both female and male audiences, and if Hispanic audiences turned out for For Greater Glory.

All eyes on Shia LaBeouf

By Sarah Sluis

While the presidential debates this evening will likely dampen box-office returns, a few good popcorn options will entertain the under-eighteens and, at least for New York City, those escaping the forecasted rain.

Eagle Eye, 3,510 theatres

Oh, Shia LaBeouf.  Just a few years ago, he played a dorky younger brother on Disney sitcom "Even Stevens."  After a turn in summer tentpole Transformers (soon-to-be-titled Transformers 1), a drunken driving charge, and a supporting role in mega-franchise Indiana Jones IV, he's starring in yet another action-thriller, Eagle Eye.  FJI reviewer Daniel Eagan called it "a B-movie with higher pretensions," and he just might be spot-on.  Executive produced by Stephen Spielberg, the film appears to be a Minority Report-light.  As a vehicle for Shia LaBoeuf, it couldn't be more interesting.  He has worked on three Spielberg (executive produced or directed) films to date: Transformers, Indiana Jones IV, and Eagle Eye.  With no upcoming projects, save the Transformers sequel and a rumored thriller, he will likely be able to leverage any favorable reception to this film into better roles and higher salaries.

Miracle at St. Anna, 1,185 theatres
A Glory for WWII, Spike Lee's epic effort to show the experience of black soldiers on the Italian front apparently suffers from his need to say and do too much.  David Edelstein from New York Magazine notes that "Lee's canvas is impressively vast. The shock is in how coarsely he fills it in," while A.O. Scott calls out the genre shifts (apparently it starts out as a film noir?), the "platoon picture" speeches, and the flashbacks-within-flashbacks as evidence of the film's overwrought nature.

Nights in Rodanthe, 2,704 theatres
Nicholas Sparks is quite the hot commodity, with two additional Sparks adaptations recently announced, albeit with younger stars.  For fans of Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe awaits you at the cineplexes, if you're too impatient for it to show up on cable.  Watch Richard Gere and Diane Lane swoon into their fated love in this "PG-13 romance porn."

Also releasing this week:

• Tim Robbins and Rachel McAdams star in The Lucky Ones (425 theatres), an Iraqi veteran road trip picture.



• A dropout med student turns into a member of the marijuana-growing community in Humboldt County (10 theatres).



• A firefighter turns his attention to saving his marriage in Christian-themed Fireproof (839 theatres).



• Black comedy Choke (434 theatres), based on a novel by Chuck Palahnuik, centers on a sex addict who also works as a tour guide for a faux-colonial town.