Call me crazy but despite the flack I got earlier in the week for what some considered a high prediction for Ridley Scott's American Gangster, and even though the actual theatre count is 100 less than my earlier projection, I still think that the movie is going to be seen as the kind of must-see event movie that far surpasses expectations. The only thing keeping me from making a prediction in the $50 - 60 million range ala 8 Mile really is the running time and the piracy issue. I personally don't feel that saying Denzel Washington movies only makes so much money is a viable argument because his movies do make a lot because he's popular and put him in a crime drama ala The Departed can only appeal to an even larger audience.

DreamWorks' animated Bee Movie is also getting about 200 more theatres than I projected, so I've increased my prediction of that to just over $40 million, although I don't think it will be strong enough to withstand the coming movies. Either way, we have two guaranteed $100 million movies opening this weekend, the first since the summer.

New Line's drama Martian Child still isn't looking very strong and with even fewer theatres than projected, $5 million might be a struggle.

Updated Predictions -

1. American Gangster (Universal) - $45.1 million N/A (up $2.7 million!)

2. Bee Movie (DreamWorks/Paramount) - $40.3 million N/A (up $1.6 million!)

3. Saw IV (Lionsgate) - $13.8 million -57% (down .2 million)

4. Dan in Real Life (Disney/Touchstone) - $7.5 million -37% (up .1 million)

5. Martian Child (New Line) - $4.9 million N/A (down .4 million)

6. The Game Plan (Disney) - $3.6 million -43% (up .1 million)

7. 30 Days of Night (Sony) - $3.2 million -53% (same)

8. Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.) - $3.1 million -37% (same)

9. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) - $2.9 million -48% (same)

10. Gone Baby Gone (Miramax) - $2.4 million -38% (same)

After the jump, you can read a brief preview of next week's column.