In Craig Gillespie's comedy Mr. Woodcock (New Line), Seann William Scott returns to his hometown to find his sadistic high school gym teacher, played by Billy Bob Thornton, dating his mother, and while it seems like a fun comedy premise, the fact that the movie has been delayed by New Line for over a year is not particularly promising. It follows a similar formula as Thornton's last comedy School for Scoundrels, which pitted him against Jon "Napoleon Dynamite" Heder, though Scott could help bring in some of the college-age audience he's built from the "American Pie" movies. It will be competing with other comedies like Superbad, which continues to bring in a lot of business, and Balls of Fury, which will probably keep it under the $10 million mark this weekend. Oddly, this movie has been delayed so long that Craig Gillespie's second movie Lars and the Real Girl played at the Toronto International Film Festival this past weekend and will open in select cities next month.

Terrence Howard also stars with Richard Gere in Richard (The Matador) Shepard's The Hunting Party (The Weinstein Co.), a dark comedy set in post-war Sarajevo, which opened in New York and L.A. last week and expands into over 600 theatres this Friday. Even with Gere's solid track record, this dark comedy set in a war-torn country might not be everyone's cup of tea, and it's likely to wind up outside the Top 10 with roughly $2 million.

As an avid Asian film buff, I probably should know more about Dragon Wars (Freestyle Releasing), the L.A. based Korean monster movie getting a release into 2,000 theatres Friday, but I'm not sure what more I really need to know. There are a bunch of dragons and they're at war, right? With the exception of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Jet Li's movies, Asian films don't have a very good track record, but this has an American cast and it doesn't look like a Korean film, so maybe it will be considered a viable choice to some of the other films. Either way, it's probably opening way too wide, which would result in a very low per-theatre average. The distributor, Freestyle Releasing, doesn't really have experience releasing films this wide and they haven't been backing it up with enough promotion.

Also look for Universal's The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx to get sneak previews on Saturday night, September 15.

This Week's Predictions -

1. The Brave One (Warner Bros.) - $16.8 million N/A

2. 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) - $8.2 million -42%

3. Mr. Woodcock (New Line) - $7.4 million N/A

4. Superbad (Sony) - $4.9 million - 35%

5. Halloween (Dimension) - $4.5 million - 52%

6. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) - $3.4 million - 40%

7. Balls of Fury (Rogue) - $3.1 million - 45%

8. Rush Hour 3 (New Line) - $3.0 million - 44%

9. Shoot ‘Em Up (New Line) - $2.9 million - 47%

10. Dragon Wars (Freestyle) - $2.7 million N/A

11. Mr. Bean's Holiday (Universal) - $2.1 million – 39%

12. The Hunting Party (Weinstein Co.) - $2.0 million 5100%

Last year, four new movies opened in wide release and while The Rock's football drama Gridiron Gang (Sony) reigned over the box office with $14.4 million, Brian de Palma's crime-thriller The Black Dahlia (Universal) had a higher per-theatre average as it made $10 million in more than a thousand fewer theatres. The Top 3 was rounded out by the animated Everyone's Hero (Fox) with $6 million, while Zach Braff's romantic dramedy The Last Kiss (Paramount/DreamWorks) opened in fifth place with $4.6 million. The top 10 grossed roughly $56 million, which should be about the same amount grossed by this week's selections.

The Brave One (Warner Bros.)
Starring Jodie Foster, Mary Steenburgen, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard
Directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Butcher Boy, In Dreams, Interview with the Vampire); Written by Cynthia Mort, Roderick and Bruce Taylor (lots of TV stuff), Neil Jordan
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "How many wrongs to make it right?"
Plot Summary: A New York talk radio host (Jodie Foster) is brutally attacked in Central Park with her fiancé (Naveen Andrews), but when she finds out he died, she takes to the streets with a loaded gun in order to get revenge, while a police detective (Terrence Howard) tries to track down the vigilante killer who has been plaguing the streets of the city.
Why I Should See It: Jodie Foster is a highly respected actress and this is another tough role for her under the guidance of legendary filmmaker Neil Jordan.
Why Not: Some might be expecting a lot more violence and action than Foster's movie delivers.
Projections: $16 to 18 million opening weekend and $50 million total.
COMPARISONS

Mr. Woodcock (New Line)
Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Ethan Suplee, Amy Poehler, Melissa Sagemiller, Susan Sarandon
Directed by Craig Gillespie (debut, upcoming Lars and the Real Girl); Written by Josh Gilbert and Michael Carnes (debut)
Genre: Comedy
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Letting go of your past is hard… especially when it's dating your Mom."
Plot Summary: John Farley (Seann William Scott) is a self-help author who returns home to find out that his mother (Susan Sarandon) is dating Mr. Woodcock (Thorton), the high school gym teacher who humiliated John as a teen.
Why I Should See It: Billy Bob Thorton and Seann William Scott have had their share of funny movies, so pitting them against each other should be a good thing, right?
Why Not: I probably thought the same thing about School of Scoundrels and that was directed by Todd (Old School) Phillips.
Projections: $6 to 8 million opening weekend and less than $20 million total.
COMPARISONS

Dragon Wars (Freestyle Releasing)
Starring Jason Behr, Amanda Brooks, Robert Forster, Aimee Garcia, Craig Robinson
Written and directed by Hyung-rae Shim (Power King, Dragon Tuka and other Korean films I've never heard of)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "They've made our world their battle ground." (Who needs a tagline with a title like that?)
Plot Summary: A Korean fable about dragons is revived in present day L.A. when investigative reporter Ethan Kendrick (Jason Behr) starts to follow a series of unexplainable disasters linked to a woman named Sarah Daniels (Amanda Brooks) that threatens to bring the battle of the dragons back.
Why I Should See It: It's dragons…and they're at war!!
Why Not: As much as I love Korean monster movies (The Host is in my top 5 for the year), this really looks like it could be awful.
Predictions: $2 to 3 million opening weekend and less than $6 million total.

THE CHOSEN ONE:
Great World of Sound (Magnolia)
Starring Pat Healy, Kene Holliday, Barlow Jacobs, Carver Johns, John Baker, Libertad Green, Mark Scarboro, Michael Harding, Rebecca Mader, Robert Longstreet, Scott Reynolds, Tricia Paoluccio
Written and directed by Craig Zobel (debut) with George Smith
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Rated R (which is as big a travesty as Once getting an R-rating)
Plot Summary: After a shy man named Martin (Pat Healy) answers an ad for a production company called Great World of Sound, he's sent on the road with the boisterous Clarence (Kene Holliday) to try to find and sign musical acts in small Southern towns.
Tagline: "They're coming to make you a star!"

I have yet to see Craig Zobel's in a theatre with an audience, but I have a feeling that if I ever did get the chance, I would enjoy it even more. I first saw a screener of this before the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was completely charmed by the two main characters and their rapport, and when I rewatched it again recently, it was just as much fun the second time around.

While Pat Healy's Martin is a nice guy that you can't help but like, it's Clarence, played by Kene Holliday from the long-running TV show "Matlock", who steals the movie with his antics, and it's also fun due to the funny and often bad musical acts that the two actors actually had to watch, filmed in a similar way as "American Idol" where anything could happen and it would be caught on tape. This is such a low-key low-fi movie that one has to wonder if it will be able to find its audience, but it'll open at the Angelika Film Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York on Friday, so here's hoping for the best!

Interview with Craig Zobel and Kene Holliday

Also in Limited Release:

Across the Universe (Sony) - Director Julie Taymor (Frida, Titus) returns with a movie musical that uses the music of the Beatles as a backdrop to the tale of a group of young people during the ‘60s. It stars Evan Rachel Wood and newcomers Jim Sturgess, and it opens in select cities and then expands wide next weekend.

Darkon (Porchlight/IFC) - This documentary by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer, opening at the Cinema Village in New York, looks at the world of Darkon, a full contact medieval fantasy role-playing game using real swords and shields.

December Boys (Warner Independent) - Daniel Radcliffe stars in Rod Hardy's coming-of-age tale about four orphans who travel to the beach for the summer where they compete for the attention of a kindly young couple who are thinking of adopting one of them. It opens in New York and L.A. this weekend and wider on September 28.

Eastern Promises (Focus Features) – David Cronengberg's new film centers around the Russian mob in London as a midwife (Naomi Watts) must trace the relatives of a pregnant girl who died during childbirth, putting her into contact with Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a driver for the mob who is trying to move up the ranks. It opens in select cities on Friday and nationwide on Friday, September 21.

In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent) - Paul Haggis, co-writer and director of the Oscar-winning Crash, returns with this drama starring Tommy Lee Jones as the father of a young soldier who has gone MIA from his military base, presumed AWOL, leading him to conduct his own investigation with the help of a local detective (Charlize Theron). Like Cronenberg's latest, it opens in select cities on Friday and nationwide on September 21.

Ira & Abby (Magnolia) - Jennifer Westfeldt, the writer and star of Kissing Jessica Stein, returns with her directorial debut, a romantic comedy about a neurotic Jew and a free-spirited woman who fall in love, but whose relationship hits a snag when he learns that she's been divorced twice. It opens in New York, L.A. and Chicago this Friday.

King of California (First Look) - Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood star in novelist Doug Cahill's directorial debut about a teen girl who must contend with her eccentric father once he's released from an institution, but winds up being pulled into his crazy schemes to find lost Spanish gold. After debuting at the Sundance Film Festival and playing at the Toronto Film Festival this week, it opens in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Moondance Alexander (The Bigger Picture) - The title character in Michael Damian's family drama is a spirited teen played by Kan Panaker, living with her eccentric mother--kind of the opposite of King of California in that respect--who discovers that a lost pinto pony named Checkers might have the makings of a champion jumper.

Moving McAllister (First Independent) - This romantic comedy stars Ben Gourley (who also wrote it) as a Miami law intern trying to score points with his boss by doing him a favor which puts him on road trip to L.A. in a rundown truck. It opens in a bunch of cities this week.

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song - Jim Brown's documentary about the influential folk singer, combining interviews and footage, opens in Denver, Illinois and San Francisco on Friday.

The Rape of Europa (Menemsha Films) - This documentary, which opens in New York, looks at the stealing of great works of art from Jewish art collectors by the Nazis in World War II and what's being done by the surviving families to recover the stolen works of art.

Silk (Picturehouse) - Michael Pitt stars in François Girard's historic drama based on Alessandro Baricco's novel about a 19th Century French silkworm merchant who travels to Japan, leaving his devoted wife (Keira Knightley) back home and falling into a forbidden romance with a mysterious Japanese woman. It opens in select cities this Friday.

Next week, zombies are partying in Vegas in the horror threequel Resident Evil: Extinction, Dane Cook is trying to party in Jessica Alba in Good Luck Chuck and Amanda Bynes might still be too young to party in Sydney White. Also, the inimitable David Cronenberg returns with Eastern Promises, which is reason enough to party.

Copyright 2007 Edward Douglas