Right now, it looks like Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, will expand nationwide on Friday into 700 theatres, although based on its early showings in limited release, it probably will end up with roughly $1.5 million. Also, expect Sony to take advantage of the success of Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, though it probably will remain outside the Top 10.

You can read more about all of the movies in wide and limited release after…

This Week's Predictions -

1. The Kingdom (Universal) - $21.6 million N/A

2. The Game Plan (Disney) - $17.8 million N/A

3. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony/Screen Gems) - $9.7 million -59%

4. Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate) - $7.7 million -44%

5. The Brave One (Warner Bros.) - $4.2 million -43%

6. 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) - $4.0 million – 35%

7. Eastern Promises (Focus) - $3.3 million – 42%

8. Sydney White (Universal) - $3.1 million -40%

9. Feast of Love (MGM) - $3.1 million N/A

10. Mr. Woodcock (New Line) - $2.9 million -42%

Last year, September ended with another action-thriller facing a family film but in that case, Sony's animated Open Season beat out the Kevin Costner-Ashton Kutcher action-thriller The Guardian for the top spot, $24 million to $18 million. Many of the returning films had huge 50% drops or more allowing Todd Phillip's remake of School of Scoundrels, starring Billy Bob Thornton, to open in fourth place with $8.6 million. The top 10 grossed $83.61 million but it might be hard for this week's offerings to help the box office continue this year's upwards trend. Pending a breakout by one of the new movies, one can expect the box office to be down 7 - 8% this weekend.

The Kingdom (Universal)
Starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, Danny Huston, Richard Jenkins
Directed by Peter Berg (The Rundown, Friday Night Lights, Very Bad Things); Written by Matttew Michael Carnahan (debut; also upcoming Lions for Lambs)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Under fire. Under pressure. Out of time."
Plot Summary: A bombing in Saudi Arabia that kills and injures hundreds of Americans is investigated by a special FBI team led by Agent Ron Fleury (Jamie Foxx) on a secret mission to find out who is responsible for the bombing and take appropriate action. They soon learn that they're not welcome in the country, forcing them to face many deadly obstacles in searching for the truth.
Why I Should See It: This is an entertaining global thriller set amidst today's headlines.
Why Not: Who needs to see a movie about bombings in the Middle East when one can just turn on the news?
Interview with Peter Berg

While some might want to immediately discard Peter Berg's fourth movie as another movie inspired by the war in Iraq ala Paul Haggis' recent In the Valley of Elah, it's actually an FBI action-thriller set in the Middle East, which owes more to movies like Syriana, Steven Spielberg's Munich and other similarly intelligent political thrillers, only with far more action. The key thing about The Kingdom is that it continues the lucrative relationship between Universal Pictures with director Peter Berg and actor Jamie Foxx, this time teaming the two of them together. (Berg's last movie Friday Night Lights actually ended up competing with Foxx's Ray for the studio's attention in the 2004 fall season, although both ended up doing well.) Since winning the Oscar for Ray, Foxx has been proving himself as a bankable star, although his biggest hits Jarhead and Miami Vice have had other things going for them, and Dreamgirls, Foxx's 2nd $100 million movie, was more of an ensemble piece. This time, Foxx is joined by Jennifer Garner, making her return to action-drama after a couple bombs including the superhero flick Elektra and the romantic comedy Catch and Release earlier this year. Fortunately, the role of an FBI agent is right up her alley after her successful stint on the ABC drama "Alias." Chris Cooper has also appeared in many Universal movies in the last few years including Jarhead and the recent thriller Breach, so he's fairly comfortable in this vehicle. Jason Bateman brings a bit of extra humor to the proceedings, as does Jeremy Piven, both whom appeared in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, in which Berg made a rare acting appearance earlier this year. Universal has already had quite a bit of success with this type of movie, such as Jarhead and the controversial United 93, so an action-thriller set in the Middle East shouldn't be much of a challenge. The late-September release might be problematic, as might be the poor advertising campaign, which doesn't seem to make it very clear what the movie's about or why it's worth seeing, but Jamie Foxx should help bring in a fairly wide demographic of older moviegoers, who won't have too many other choices with last week's offerings generally skewing younger.

Projections: $20 to 23 million opening weekend and roughly $63 million total.
COMPARISONS

The Game Plan (Disney)
Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Roselyn Sanchez, Kyra Sedgwick, Morris Chestnut, Madison Pettis, Gordon Clapp, Kate Nauta, Paige Turco
Directed by Andy Fickman (She's the Man, Who's Your Daddy?); Written by Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price (debut screenplay)
Genre: Comedy
Rated PG
Tagline: "Joe Kingman had the perfect game plan to win the championship... but first, he has to tackle one little problem."
Plot Summary: Champion quarterback Joe Kingman (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is having the time of his life: rich, famous and having a banner year with his team, until he finds out he has a 7-year-old daughter and has to learn how to take care of a young girl while still maintaining his status as a celebrity sports figure.
Why I Should See It: The Rock returns to comedy with something a bit different that plays off his past as a college football player.
Why Not: Might bring new meaning to the slogan: "Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?"

Mini-Review: Even going into the latest high concept family comedy from Disney with lower than normal expectations cannot prepare you for the experience of The Rock being shown up by young Madison Pettis, well on her way to being the latest pod-teen from Disney ala Hilary/Lindsay. Congratulations, Spencer Breslin, you're no longer the most annoying child actor of the 21st Century!  As his younger co-star wins everyone over with her adorable antics, The Rock desperately tries to reclaim his movie by falling into old stand-bys, hamming it up and doing pratfalls. While you can give him some credit for being versatile, by the time you've gotten through him singing Elvis--a tiring character device within seconds of being introduced--or doing ballet, it's hard to take him seriously when the film takes its expected sentimental turn.  Even before then, it's such a high concept premise that the movie practically writes itself, and yet it's so predictably formula that it feels as if it were written by graduates of some deranged Disney Comedy Screenwriting course, desperately in need of a few lessons in originality and creative thinking. The fact that they can stretch this idea into a movie longer than 90 minutes boggles the mind.  Still, the most embarrassing moments come from Kyra Sedgwick as his publicist/agent, spitting on any good will she's gained from her TV success.  Ultimately, "The Game Plan" is barely funny to anyone over five years old and so sickeningly adorable and sweet that you'll be barfing sugarcubes long before the halfway point.  Further proof that someone needs to stage an intervention to keep Michael Eisner from greenlighting any more "family" comedies that teach our kids how to be Sidekick-wielding brats. Rating: 3.5/10 

This is the second football-related movie in a row for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, former professional wrestler and University of Miami defensive tackle, after the drama Gridiron Gang, which opened at #1 last September with just $14.4 million. The Game Plan is a very different movie for the action star, because it's a comedy geared more towards families and kids, and it's produced by Disney Pictures who saved Vin Diesel's career by placing him in a similar vehicle with The Pacifier. Sony also had success in a similar fashion by putting Ice Cube in Are We There Yet? and the less-successful sequel Are We Done Yet?, but as is the case with so many family film trends, we're already seeing this one starting to wane a bit, so it's not likely that The Game Plan will be nearly as successful as The Pacifier, especially with a September release. Sure, The Game Plan might benefit from the start of the football season, but it's not likely to appeal to the normal male fans of Dwayne's football or wrestling career, unless they're fathers with young kids who might be able to relate to the character, convincing them to bring their families to see this over the weekend. There certainly haven't been many strong family films in recent months, which will probably help, although this probably won't be the first choice for childless guys or the Rock's usual 16 to 25 year old audience. Like The Kingdom, the movie's only competition for the top spot this weekend, it received well-attended sneak previews across the nation last weekend in hopes to build word-of-mouth.

Projections: $17 to 19 million opening weekend and $50 million total.
COMPARISONS

Feast of Love (MGM)
Starring Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, Jane Alexander, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway, Selma Blair, Stana Katic, Billy Burke, Fred Ward, Erika Marozsan
Directed by Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer, The Human Stain, Twilight, Still of the Night, Billy Bathgate); Written by Allison Burnett (Resurrecting the Champ, Autumn in New York)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rated R
Tagline: "A story for anyone with an appetite for love."
Plot Summary: Portland coffee shop owner Bradley (Greg Kinnear) is a hapless loser who just can't seem to find love after his wife (Selma Blair) leaves him for another woman. He gets sage advice from his friend Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) who thinks his new relationship with a real estate agent (Radha Mitchell) may be doomed. Meanwhile, two of his workers (Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway) have fallen in love and have to face their own obstacles.
Why I Should See It: Well, if you've ever wanted to see lots of talented actresses naked, this is the movie for you!
Why Not: In between that nudity, there's lots of blah blah blah high drama etc. etc.

My Review (Coming Soon!)

The first movie from legendary Hollywood filmmaker Robert Benton since 2003's The Human Stain is also based on a noted novel, that being Charles Baxter's 2000 book which was up for a National Book Award. This one also has another great cast, but it doesn't really seem like it has much else to entice people to see it in theatres, whether they've read the book or not. Both Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman have appeared in sizable hits in recent years, although it was always with a stronger co-star or as an ensemble cast, and none of those successful movies really have much in common with this ensemble drama, which would normally be given a limited or platform release before expanding wider based on word-of-mouth. After waiting a long time before starting any sort of promotional marketing campaign, MGM wisely is only give this a moderate release into just 1,250 theatres, although it's likely to only get one screen in each and will probably only be of interest to older married moviegoers, since there's very little for anyone in the under-30 crowd.

Projections: $2 to 4 million opening weekend and $8 million total.
COMPARISONS

THE CHOSEN ONE:

Lust, Caution (Focus Features)
Starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee Hom
Directed by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, The Hulk, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Written by Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller, Historic
Rated NC-17
Plot Summary: Amidst the chaos of World War II Shanghai, a young college co-ed (Tang Wei) is recruited to infiltrate the home of a high-powered politician (Tony Leung), a Japanese collaborator who a group of rebellious college students plan to assassinate as a traitor. They end up having a torrid affair behind the back of his wife (Joan Chen), which just makes her mission more difficult.

Ang Lee's latest has been received rather coolly at recent film festivals by some critics due to its slow pace and length, or maybe it's because Lee has returned to more traditional Chinese filmmaking after making so many critically praised Western films like 2005's Brokeback Mountain, Sense and Sensibility and others. In fact, Lust, Caution, based on a short story by Eileen Chang, is very traditional in the same way as some of the films by Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai, and it's equally beautiful in the way Lee tells the story using gorgeous visuals and music. It's also an intriguing tale about WWII China, covering territory we haven't seen in many Western films, but most importantly, it features two terrific performances, one from newcomer Tang Wei and the other from one of the finest actors, not only in China but in the world, Mr. Tony Leung. (You can trust me on this, because I said so.) Sure, Lee takes his time letting this story unfold, but the relationship between these two actors at different ends of their career makes the film such a riveting tale… and then of course, there's the sex scenes that got the movie a somewhat deserving NC-17 rating. Let's just say that Tang Wei is talented in more ways than one, and these scenes are pretty steamy, though ironically, they'll probably be edited out of the Chinese release, even though that's where the movie will do the most business. As I said, it's a very traditional Chinese tale, told in a traditional way, sex scenes aside. I saw the movie at the Toronto Film Festival--if I remember right, it was my third movie of the day--and I'm anxious to try to catch it again, because I think I'll get even more out of it the second time around. And no, I'm not just saying that because I'm a pervert who wants to drool over Tang Wei's sex scenes… well, okay, it is partly that.

Lust, Caution opens in New York on Friday and in other cities on October 5.

My Review from the Toronto International Film Festival

Interview with Tony Leung

Honorable Mention:

While I didn't enjoy or appreciate Wes Anderson's latest movie as much as Ang Lee's (for reasons addressed in my reviews), he still makes so few films that it's worth pointing out that his latest will open in New York City on Saturday after its New York Film Festival premiere on Friday night. It'll then open in other cities on October 5.
The Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston
Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums); Written by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman
Genre: Comedy
Rated R
Plot Summary: Three brothers (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman) go on a spiritual journey to India after the death of their father, but a ride on the Darjeeling Limited train eventually goes awry and they wind up stranded in the desert.
Tagline:
Of Note: This is the first movie in nearly three years from Wes Anderson after The Life Aquatic.

Review

Also in Limited Release:

Bordertown (THINKFilm) - In Gregory Nava's thriller, Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas play reporters investigating the hundreds of female factory workers that have been raped and murdered in the bordertown of Juarez, Mexico, attacks that are covered up by the local police. It's opening in Dallas and El Paso, Texas on Friday with no word on expansion to other cities.

In a similar vein, there's…

Trade (Roadside Attractions) - Kevin Kline stars in this drama written by Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) about Jorge (Cesar Ramos), a Mexican teenager looking for his 13-year-old sister Adriana, who's been kidnapped off the streets of their hometown to be auctioned off in an underground pedophile sex trade. Along the way, he gets help from a Texas police officer (Kline) who's also looking for his missing daughter. It opens in New York and L.A. this weekend.

Mini-Review: On the one hand, this is a well-written drama that's harrowing in its proximity to the horrible reality of the sex trade, and while it's not a bad film, it tends to be painfully slow, kinda flat and generally unexciting. A lot of the problem lies in the fact that Cesar Ramos, the young actor who makes his debut as the main character, isn't strong enough as an actor to be able to carry the piece--his poor English doesn't help--and Kevin Kline's role is fairly minimal and not really playing up to his strengths. It does a decent job exploring the rigorous journey that Jorge takes while trying to get across the border to the United States in order to find his sister, and its relevance to today's headlines about the immigration problem and about sex slave rings makes it intriguing. Still, much of this type of material was generally handled better in Richard Linklater's "Fast Food Nation," and despite an abundance of overacting, there just isn't very much tension or drama in the story. It's odd seeing a film like this helmed by a German director, and Marco Kreuzpaintner does a reasonably competent job without bringing anything substantial to the mix. The resulting movie basically jumps back and forth between Cesar and Kline's characters on their quest to find loved ones, but it takes forever to get anywhere and the ridiculous ending doesn't make it worth the journey. Rating: 6/10

I'll Believe You (Freestyle) - This comedy from Paul Francis Sullivan is about a late-night radio host who receives a panicked phone call in another language and enlists his friends to find out who the caller is before the FBI does. Apparently, it's coming out this weekend although I haven't found anything to back that up.

Outsourced (Shadow Catcher Entertainment) - Josh Hamilton stars in John Jeffcoat's romantic comedy based on his experiences in Nepal and India. In the film, Hamilton plays an American salesman trying to navigate the cultural differences in Bombay to set up a team of Indian call center workers. It opens in New York, Austin, San Francisco and other cities on Friday.

The Price of Sugar (Uncommon Productions) - Paul Newman narrates Bill Haney's documentary about Haitians working under slave-like conditions in the sugercane fields of the Dominican Republic in order to supply sugar to the U.S. It will open in New York at the Village East Cinemas.

Next week, the month of October kicks off with the latest comedy from Ben Stiller, a remake of The Heartbreak Kid (Paramount). Susan Cooper's award-winning novel The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Fox Walden) comes to the big screen, while R 'n' B singer Omarion explores the Latin music known as Reggaeton in Feel the Noise.