Uwe Boll's long-delayed fantasy epic In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Freestyle Releasing) is getting an insanely wide release into over 2,500 theaters (possibly closer to 3,000!) although early word-of-mouth--not to mention the knowledge among genre fans that this is a Uwe Boll film--will probably keep it from getting too far up the Top 10. Also, the well-reviewed Spanish ghost movie (and Oscar contender) The Orphanage will expand nationwide into roughly 500 theatres but probably will end up well outside the Top 10 with roughly $1.6 million. Fox Searchlight's comedy Juno should continue to do well this weekend, adding 300 or so more theaters and remaining in the #2 spot.

If that's not enough choices, then on Saturday night, 20th Century Fox is offering a second set of sneak previews of Katherine Heigl's romantic comedy 27 Dresses, which was originally supposed to come out this weekend, and probably would have won the weekend if it did.

This Week's Predictions -

1. First Sunday (Sony/Screen Gems) - $13.3 million N/A

2. Juno (Fox Searchlight) - $12.2 million - 23%

3. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Disney) - $11.5 million -43%

4. The Bucket List (Warner Bros) - $10.2 million +3000%

5. Alvin and the Chipmunks (20th Century Fox) - $9.2 million -41%

6. I Am Legend (Warner Bros.) - $8.9 million -45%

7. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Universal) - $7.2 million N/A

8. One Missed Call (Warner Bros.) - $5.7 million -55%

9. P.S. I Love You (Warner Bros.) - $5.3 million -33%

10. Charlie Wilson's War (Universal) - $5.2 million -38%

11. In the Name of the King (Freestyle) - $4.9 million N/A

Last year, Martin Luther King Jr's birthday came earlier in the month, helping Sony/Screen Gems' dance movie Stomp the Yard stomp out the competition. It opened with just under $26 million in 2,050 theatres over the four days, putting it just outside the Top 10 of January openers and in the top 5 for the holiday weekend. The other new movies didn't fare as well with the crime drama Alpha Dog (New Line), the giant crocodile thriller Primeval (Touchstone) and Luc Besson's animated family film Arthur and the Invisibles (Weinstein Co.) all ending up in the bottom half of the Top 10, the latter two faring the worst despite opening in the most theatres and Alpha Dog faring decently despite only opening in 1,286 theatres. The Top 10 grossed $90 million over the first three days of the weekend, but without the bump from the lack of school and government jobs on Monday, this weekend's top 10 might fall just short of that amount.

First Sunday (Sony/Screen Gems)
Starring Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Michael Beach, Keith David, Regina Hall, Malinda Williams, Clifton Powell, Nick Turturro, Chi McBride
Written and directed by David E. Talbert (A Woman Like That)
Genre: Comedy
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Keep the faith. Steal the rest."
Plot Summary: Durell (Ice Cube) is in danger of losing his son unless he can come up with $17,000, so he and his best friend LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan) plot to rob their neighborhood church, not knowing what they're in for.

When the box office starts to settle down in January, there are always a few sure things, although in the past few years, the decline in quality films hasn't signaled death at the box office, as high concept comedies successfully brought people into theatres even if few of them have been able to open with more than $20 million. One of the proven stars of this month is Ice Cube who first tackled January, specifically the extended Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2000, with his comedy sequel Next Friday and ever since, he's starred in many movies that opened in the first month of the year including his biggest hit, the family comedy Are We There Yet?.

Who would ever have thought 15 years ago that the toughest gangsta rapper from the Compton group N.W.A. might one day be considered one of the kings of urban comedy, but after a number of hits including the three Friday movies, two Barbershop movies and 2005's Are We There Yet?, Ice Cube certainly has to be considered a bankable African-American box office star due to the audience who'll go see any of his movies, most of them having been released in the first third of the year. Cube certainly has had better luck with comedies than he has with action movies since both Torque (which opened over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend four years ago) and XXX: State of the Union released a year later, bombed. With First Sunday, he's back to exploring the days of the week, something that proved so successful with Friday in 1995 and its subsequent sequels, the most successful one being Next Friday, which grossed $57 million after a $14 million opening in less than a thousand theatres.

His latest comedy gives the former rapper a chance to start another successful comedy franchise, this time with the help of director David E. Talbert, a successful African-American playwright whose work has been seen by millions of people across the nation putting him on par with the likes of Tyler Perry, another playwright who has huge success with his film comedies. Produced by Tim Story, who directed Barbershop 2, Taxi and the two Fantastic Four movies, it's only Talpert's second theatrical feature film in ten years. It looks pretty dumb with lots of low-brow humor, much like the urban buddy comedies we've seen from Ice Cube in the past, but apparently, that's the kind of thing his audiences want to see, though one could probably assume that Talpert will infuse it with some of the messages and morals of his plays.

Being first and foremost a comedy, Talpert has filled the cast with comedy ringers like former "SNL" and current "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan, as well as Katt Williams, a popular stand-up comic from Ohio who recently appeared in the flop The Perfect Holiday but whose popularity seems to be growing among African-American audiences thanks to appearances in movies dating back to Cube's Friday After Next. Adding a bit of acting credibility will come in the form of actress Loretta Devine, who starred in the far more successful This Christmas, as well as having a pivotal role in the Oscar-winning Crash.

Either way, the movie is being targeted almost exclusively to the African-American audiences who've been fans of Ice Cube since his first appearance in John Singleton's Boyz ‘n the Hood and one has to assume that the type of humor will appeal more to guys, although the church-going women who thrive on Tyler Perry's fare might give this a look. Who knows? Maybe there'll be a little bit of spillover to white teen males in the cities and suburbs, but it's not very likely.

It's often hard to determine how African-American audiences might react to a new movie entering theaters, but even with the strong credentials that will help First Sunday reach its intended audience, it's also being released by Sony/Screen Gems, who has such a good track record with movies targeted to African-American audiences, including the aforementioned This Christmas and the hugely popular dance movies You Got Served and Stomp the Yard, which opened this same weekend last year, although it was helped by a four-day holiday weekend. (See above.) In fact, it's a bit odd that Screen Gems aren't releasing Ice Cube's latest over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend where it would make even more money, but with Fox's 27 Dresses moved back a week, it leaves this weekend wide open for Ice Cube to have another substantial hit, plus it should continue to do well next weekend despite any presumed competition from Mad Money.

Why I Should See It: Because surely this can't be any worse than Ice Cube's last few movies…
Why Not: Admittedly, I haven't seen any of his last few movies because most of the ones before that have been pretty bad.
Projections: $12 to 14 million opening weekend and $45 million total.

COMPARISONS

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything – A VeggieTales Movie (Universal)
Starring (voices of) Mike Nawrocki, Phil Vischer
Directed by Mike Nawrocki (Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and most if not all of the videos); Written by Phil Vischer (Jona: A VeggieTales Movie and most if not all of the videos)
Genre: Animated, Adventure, Family
Rated G
Plot Summary: Three animated veggie misfits working as bus boys at a dinner theatre (played by animated veggies Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt and Pa Grape of "VeggieTales" fame) set sail on an adventure when they find an artifact that drags them back to the 17th Century in order to rescue a royal family from an evil tyrant.

Having sold over 40 million DVDs and videos since being created by Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer in 1993, the computer animated "VeggieTales" are back with their second feature film, nearly six years after the first one Jonah made $25 million despite a low-key release by the now-defunct indie Artemis Films. For their second movie, they've moved to the big leagues with Universal taking over distribution and putting their marketing clout behind the movie so that all the parents and kids who've watched the videos and television series will know that their favorite veggies are coming to theatres this weekend.

Nawrocki and Vischer's computer animated vegetables are somewhat of a phenomenon, having entered the mainstream with parodies on television shows like "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons" but for years, the shows and movies were things that parents could plop their kids in front of to keep them entertained, knowing that they would teach their kids good values with a particularly strong spiritual message by adapting stories from the bible and introducing younger kids to the concept of God, something that was prevalent on the tapes but was then edited out when the cartoons were shown on NBC, and one presumes, something that's been toned down for their second feature film. Just like the first movie, the best thing going for the latest feature film is its G-rating at a time when very few kids' movies are given the label that lets parents know that they can bring their youngest kids without worrying about them being introduced to bad elements. Granted, it's a pretty strange concept, telling bible stories using vegetables, and one that those without kids will probably not understand in the slightest, although younger kids who've been plopped down in front of the cartoons will surely know who each of them is and will want to see their movie.

Opening animated family films in January has become de rigueur with movies like the Weinstein Company's Hoodwinked doing better than it might if it opened in other periods. Usually, the most successful January family films open over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend when there's no school on Monday, something that's helped movies like Racing Stripes, Kangaroo Jack and Snow Dogs, all of which did far better than most expected. On the other hand, it's hard to determine what will peak kids interest and get them to beg their parents to take them to see the movies. (I mean, just look at the success of Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is in line to end up with over $200 million when all is said and done. Who saw that coming?)

Universal Studios is giving the movie a slightly wider release than the first movie, but still under 1,500 theatres, though they're putting a lot more money into advertising the movie as well, and they're using a similar grassroots method of generating word-of-mouth as other Christian-based movies, even offering group ticket sales to church groups through the official website. That should help the movie do well, but chances are they'll be fine with a moderate opening with hopes of adding more theatres next weekend when schools will be closed a week from Monday, which should help the latest "VeggieTales" movie make three to four times its opening weekend before leaving theatres. The movie does still have a bit of heavy competition for family audiences although Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Water Horse, but both of those should start running out of steam soon, and they'll probably start giving up screens and theatres over the next few weeks as well.

Why I Should See It: The "VeggieTales" series of tapes and DVDs are thought to be good for teaching younger kids right from wrong.
Why Not: Vegetables should be eaten by kids, not watched as entertainment.
Projections: $6 to 8 million opening weekend and just under $30 million total

COMPARISONS

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Boll KG/Brightllight Pictures/Freestyle Releasing)
Starring Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ray Liotta, Matthew Lillard, Burt Reynolds, Will Sanderson, Ron Perlman, Claire Forlani, Brian J. White, Kristanna Loken, Gabrielle Rose
Directed by Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne); Written by Doug Taylor (upcoming They Wait, Splice) Jason Rappaport, Dan Stroncak
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated PG-13
Plot Summary: When the evil sorcerer Gallian (Ray Liotta) attacks a small village with his "Crugs", killing the son and capturing the wife of a villager (Jason Statham), that man must take up arms and join a band of warriors to cross uncharted terrain in order to get her back and get revenge, while protecting the king (Burt Reynolds).

Just as much as an Ice Cube movie is a sure thing in January, so is a new movie from German filmmaker Uwe Boll, who is singly responsible for some of the worst movies ever made, and that really is no exaggeration. Most Americans' first sample of "Doctor" Boll's work was his adaptation of the popular video game House of the Dead, which kicked off a new wave of much better zombie movies. He followed that in the last few years by making movies based on the video games Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne, both huge flops, the latter making less than $2.5 million despite a wide release. Now, Boll is back doing another video game movie, this one based on the computer role-playing game "Dungeon Siege" although this time he's venturing into the fantasy epic terrain of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" series.

It's always amazing what actors Boll is able to convince to appear in his movies, such as Sir Ben Kingsley in his last movie BloodRayne (okay, that's a bad example) but for In the Name of the King, he has brought on the likes of Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Ron Perlman and even Burt Reynolds, who doesn't appear in very many movies these days. Statham and Liotta recently appeared in Guy Ritchie's Revolver, which got a limited release after being delayed for two years, and chances are that they probably made In the Name of the King around the same time. Statham has been rather successful in recent years thanks to movies like The Transporter, its sequel and action movies like Crank. Having him as the star in your movie does mean that it could interest some of his fans, though the rest of the cast doesn't offer the same sort of draw. Kristanna Loken, who starred in BloodRayne, but is better known for her role in Terminator 3 is back, joined by Leelee Sobieski in her first movie since last year's remake of The Wicker Man. Oddly, it also stars Johnathan Rhys-Davies, who played the dwarf Gimli in the Lord of the Rings movies which Boll is trying to emulate with this.

This means that the best thing going for the movie is the presence of Statham, who's on a bit of a roll, and the commercials do a good job making the movie look like a large-scale fantasy epic, even if that's not a genre that has had much success in recent months, as seen by the flop of the Weinstein Company's The Last Legion and New Line's far more expensive The Golden Compass. Some of the commercials try to make the film look like a serious Oscar contender ala Lord of the Rings although none of them mention Boll by name, probably because they know that doing so would be a sure-fire dealbreaker for anyone who has been on the internet and knows.

Boll's last movie BloodRayne was released to U.S. theatres through the new distribution company Romar Releasing, and it was a complete disaster because it never got the amount of theatres expected. He's distributing his new move himself via Freestyle Releasing, a distributor who works with self-distributors to get their movies into theatres. Apparently, they're going to release Boll's latest into over 2,500 theaters, possibly even into over 3,000, which is pretty insane, since it's more theaters than any of Boll's last three U.S. releases, and there's nothing about the last two that shows that people even want to see them. However, a few months back, Freestyle helped get the Korean monster movie D-Wars into 2,200 theatres, and the $5 million that made its opening weekend is pretty amazing considering that most of the movies out of that country barely make a million dollars when they open here.

Boll's latest "masterpiece" already opened in a bunch of other countries, which is never helpful, because bad word-of-mouth (not to mention pirated copies) travel fast. So far, the movie has scored a pitiful 4.1 out of 10 among IMDb readers, which is horrible, although the lack of online reviews makes one think that many of these might be fake. But really, you never know, maybe the critics are too afraid of being challenged to a boxing match if they trash Uwe Boll's latest movie. Either way, it's highly doubtful that anyone who played the computer game will be very interested in a movie based on it--much like with Alone in the Dark or BloodRayne--and the movie will only have one weekend to bring in some business before word gets around how bad it is. With that in mind, one can expect this won't remain in theaters much longer than a week or two after that, especially with Cloverfield coming out next week.

Why I Should See It: You have yet to experience the Uwe Boll Experience for yourself.
Why Not: It's Uwe Frickin' Boll!! If you've seen any of his other movies, you know to stay as far away as possible.
Projections: $4 to 5 million opening weekend and less than $8 million total.

COMPARISONS

The Chosen One:

This week's pick by default--the fault of it being the only movie I've seen--is…

Woman on the Beach (New Yorker Films)
Starring Kim Seung-Woo, Ko Hyun-Joung, Kim Tae-Woo, Song Sun-Mi
Written and directed by Hong Sang-Soo
Genre: Drama, Foreign, Romance
Not Rated
Plot Summary: A well-known filmmaker (Kim Seung-Woo) travels to a beach resort to try to finish up his latest screenplay, but when his friend brings along his quasi girlfriend Moon-Sook (Ko Hun-Joung) who becomes a bigger distraction as the two men compete to gain the pretty young woman's attention.

My only experience with Hong Sang-Soo's films was seeing Tale of Cinema at the New York Film Festival a few years ago, and I wasn't particularly impressed. Actually, I was so bored I'm not even sure I stayed for the entire movie. It has to have been at least three years since then and Mr. Hong's follow-up is finally getting a theatrical release, which is impressive in itself considering his track record with finding U.S. distribution. I decided to give the Korean filmmaker another chance, since I have so many fellow critics who love the guy's work, comparing him favorably to French filmmaker Eric Roehmer. Even the title Woman on the Beach is similar to the titles of Roehmer's films, and this is a similar dialogue-driven slice-of-life character drama that seems to be about a love triangle with the pretty young woman Moon-sok (TV star Ko Hun-Joung in her first feature film), who plays games with the two men's affections, although she's easily charmed by the well-known filmmaker. In fact, that's only the film's first act, as the second act shifts focus exclusively to the director, who has returned to the beach days later to keep working until he meets another woman who reminds him of Moon-Sok, and things kind of go downhill from there. Like many of Roehmer's characters, the people in Hong Sang-Soo's tend to be rather selfish, making rather despicable choices, but this is a far more palatable take on Roehmer than Noah Baumbach's recent movie, mostly due to the terrific performance by Kim Seung-Woo as the director who makes a lot of bad relationship decisions and finds himself dealing with a lot of emotional women. Like many Korean films, Woman on the Beach is far too long and it falters a bit towards the end, but it's far more accessible than other recent films out of Korea, even if it's the kind of arthouse fare that's very much an acquired taste.

It opens at the Film Forum in New York City on Wednesday, January 9.

Also in Limited Release:

The Business of Being Born (Red Envelope) – Actress and former talk show host Ricki Lake produced and stars in this documentary from filmmaker Abby Epstein exploring how women in America deal with pregnancy and the many options available to them that has turned birth into a highly profitable business. It opens in New York at the IFC Film Center and in L.A on Wednesday, January 16.

Next week, the new year really kicks into full gear with the giant monster known as Cloverfield (Paramount) attacking New York City, Katherine Heigl's romantic comedy 27 Dresses (20th Century Fox) tries this weekend on for size, while Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Diane Keaton try to make some Mad Money (Overture Films).

Copyright 2008 Edward Douglas