Preview and Projections for the Weekend of June 25, 2004
By Edward Douglas -

Greetings and welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly guide to the weekend's new movies. Tune in every Tuesday for the latest look at the upcoming weekend, and then check back on Friday for any last minute updates.

WEEKEND PROJECTIONS - final update 6.24.04

As Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks scratch their heads on how their feel-good comedy The Terminal was beaten by a true underdog comedy, Ben Stiller’s Dodgeball will face an even bigger challenge this weekend against another broad (no pun intended) comedy featuring the Wayans Brothers as White Chicks. The movie might not do as well as their big hit Scary Movie, but it should give Dodgeball a run for the top spot with the type of dumb humor that seems to be very popular right now. (Update: White Chicks made $4.2 million on Wednesday, just narrowly defeating Dodgeball. Both movies add roughtly 300 theatres on Friday, so it could still be a tough race for the top spot this weekend with both earning $19 to 20 million.over the weekend.) Attempting to add some intelligence into a dumbed down market, Michael Moore’s latest, the controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, will open in a modest release but with enough hype to make a significant mark on the weekend. (Update: Its New York City debut in two theatres earned it over $84,000, setting a single day record for both theatres in which it opened.) The same can’t be said for The Notebook, a romance based on Nicholas’ Sparks book, and Two Brothers, an animal drama from the director of The Bear. The two low-key films that might find a rather slight niche audience and may have trouble making a mark in a busy market with so many more prominent films vying for the same audiences. That market may hit a bit of a lull, as this weekend looks like something to tie over those who can’t wait to rush out to see Spider-Man 2 the following week.

TW	LW	Title	Weekend (in millions)	Change	# Of Theaters	Average	Week
1	New	White Chicks	$20.0	N/A	2,726	$7,337	1
2	1	Dodgeball: A True Underdogs Story	$19.0	-38%	3,020	$6,291	2
3	New	Fahrenheit 9/11	$14.3	N/A	868	$16,475	1
4	2	The Terminal	$12.5	-34%	2,914	$4,290	2
5	3	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	$10.0	-44%	3,404	$2,938	4
6	4	Shrek 2	$8.5	-39%	2,937	$2,894	6
7	New	The Notebook	$8.0	N/A	2,303	$3,474	1
8	5	Garfield	$6.5	-43%	2,880	$2,257	3
9	New	Two Brothers	$5.5	N/A	2,171	$2,533	1
10	6	The Chronicles of Riddick	$4.6	-52%	2,435	$1,880	3
			Est. Weekend Total $108.70	Est. Avg. Drop-Off -42%		Est. Average PTA $5,007

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WHITE CHICKS (Columbia Pictures)
Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Maitland Ward, Anne Dudek, Jaime King, Brittany Daniel, Busy Philipps, Terry Crews, Faune Chambers, Jennifer Carpenter, Jessica Cauffiel, Eddie Velez, Lochlyn Munro
Directed by: Keenan Ivory Wayans (Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, Low Down Dirty Shame)
Rated PG-13

Shawn and Marlon Wayans play FBI agents assigned to investigate the kidnapping of rich debutantes in the Hamptons. In order to fit into this foreign territory, they go undercover as young white coeds, getting involved with a group of high society debutantes that may be able to help them solve the crimes.

And with that, folks, we have hit new highs and lows for a high concept low-brow comedy. Can you get any more high concept than having two black guys playing two white women? Thankfully, there’s some true comedy talent behind the latest joint from director Keenan Ivory Wayan and his brothers Shawn and Marlon. The last time they all got together, they came out with the hit horror spoof Scary Movie, possibly one of the funniest movies ever made, which grossed an astounding $150 million over the summer of 2000 after an impressive $42 million opening. Not bad for an R-rated “urban” comedy. A year later, they rolled out a sequel, which grossed less than half of its predecessor over 4^th of July weekend, but they’re back with their own unique take on an overused genre, the cross-dressing comedy. If their past comedies are any proof, White Chicks should include some very funny gender and racial humor as they explore the “other side”.

Keenan Ivory Wayans began his career as a comedy writer for the likes of Eddie Murphy and Robert Townsend before trying his own hand at directing in 1988 with I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, a spoof of blaxploitation flicks. Though only a minor success, it led to Wayans producing his own sketch comedy/variety show for the fledgling FOX network in 1990, a show that helped discover famous comics like Jim Carrey. After the end of the show, Wayans did a bit of acting and directed his follow-up A Low Down Dirty Shame and then he disappeared for a few years before working with his two brothers on the two Scary Movies.

As expected, Marlon and Shawn both got their start on “In Living Colour”--Shawn as the DJ and Marlon as one of the cast--but they didn’t work together as a team until they got their own sitcom, “The Wayans Brothers”, on the WB network in 1995, and they also wrote and starred in the urban gangster spoof Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. It did well opening weekend but lasted in theatres for less time than it took most people to say the title. Things came together for the family with 2000’s Scary Movie and its sequel, but Marlon had his own acting career appearing in box office flops like Senseless and Dungeons and Dragons. His starring role in Daron Aronofsky’s disturbing adaptation of Hugh Selby Jr.’s Requiem for a Dream gave him a bit more credibility as a dramatic actor, but his return to comedy, appearing with Tom Hanks in the Coen Brothers’ comedy remake The Ladykillers, didn’t do much to help that movie.

The Wayans:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
Scary Movie 2	7/6/01	3,220	$13.51	$20.50	$6,367	$71.28
Scary Movie	7/7/00	2,912		$42.35	$14,543	$157.00
A Low Down Dirty Shame	11/25/94	1,379		$7.97	$5,780	$29.32
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka	12/16/88	135		$0.54	$4,026	$13.03
The Ladykillers	3/26/04	1,583		$12.63	$7,981	$39.40
Dungeons and Dragons	12/8/00	2,078		$7.24	$3,484	$15.19
Senseless	2/20/98	1,843		$5.34	$2,897	$13.11
Don't be a Menace…	1/12/96	1,010		$8.11	$8,030	$19.67

Of course, the subject matter the Wayans have chosen to make their return might be somewhat questionable, since the cross-dressing comedy has shown signs of diminishing returns in recent years. The popularity of the genre could be traced back to the Tony Curtis-Jack Lemmon comedy Some Like It Hot, but it has seen its modern counterpart in movies like Robin Williams’ hit, Mrs. Doubtfire. Of course, fans of British or Canadian sketch comedy are used to seeing guys in dresses from shows like “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” or “The Kids in the Hall”, but otherwise, guys in drag are usually kept to campy movies like Priscilla Queen of the Desert or To Wong Foo. In the last few years, the genre hasn’t done well with flops like Sorority Boys, Juwanna Man, and the recent Connie and Carla, which tried a double twist on the genre.

White Chicks isn’t just relying on cross-dressing humor though, as the Wayans playing white women allows the opportunity for cross-racial humor. Recent movies that have taken people of one race and transplanted them into another for comedic effect include the Steve Martin-Queen Latifah comedy Bringing Down the House, and two other spring 2003 comedies, Chris Rock’s Head of State and Malibu’s Most Wanted. The former appealed to an older and a more diverse crowd than the last two, but in general, they may appeal to one racial demographic more than the other and rarely both. Bringing Down the House was one of the rare exceptions, because it took two actors that appealed to different demographics and put them in a broad comedy that would appeal to all of them.

Cross-Dressing Interracial Comedies:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
Connie and Carla	4/16/04	1,014	$3.25	$3,210	$8.05
Juwanna Mann	6/21/02	1,325	$5.47	$4,128	$13.57
Sorority Boys	3/22/02	1,801	$4.13	$2,292	$10.20
To Wong Foo...	9/8/95	1,294	$9.02	$6,971	$36.47
Mrs. Doubtfire	11/26/93	1,605	$20.47	$12,754	$219.20
Malibu's Most Wanted	4/18/03	2,503	$12.62	$5,041	$34.31
Head of State	3/28/03	2,151	$13.50	$6,278	$37.79

The Wayans must have toned down their raunchy humor a bit for White Chicks to receive a PG-13 rating—we won’t be seeing anything slipping out of their thongs, that’s for sure—but that will make it easier for it to reach a wider and presumably younger audience, something which will definitely help now that schools are out across the country. The Wayans have been everywhere promoting the movie, even on Oprah, so awareness of this movie is going to be fairly high, but the audience will be predominantly younger. Usually, this type of humor appeals more towards guys, but something about White Chicks gives it a look and feel like Mean Girls, which could mean that more teen girls might see it than might otherwise. Either way, the movie will be in direct competition with last week’s breakout comedy, Dodgeball. Though it may be a tough battle, White Chicks will have the urban advantage, and its Wednesday opening will help build up word-of-mouth for the weekend. Expect it to make around $8 to 9 million on Wednesday and Thursday and then edge Dodgeball out of the top spot over the weekend with around $20 million.

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FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (Fellowship Adventure Group/Lions’ Gate Films/ IFC Films)
Starring: Michael Moore, George W. Bush
Directed by: Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, The Big One, Roger and Me)
Rated R
Tagline: “The temperature where freedom burns!”

(Disclaimer: Any political biases implied or inferred from this preview are based solely on the opinions of the writer and not of ComingSoon.net or its employees.)

The latest controversial documentary from filmmaker Michael Moore takes a hard look at President George W. Bush, the current government, and how the state of the country led to the 9/11 attacks and the current war in Iraq.

After creating a stir at the 2002 Academy Awards, Michael Moore is back taking some of the sentiments he expressed to their most logical extreme. This time, he’s ignoring the corporations and going right after the main problem--at least in his eyes--the government and how it’s run. The resulting movie was so controversial that Miramax parent company Walt Disney Pictures refused to distribute it, fearing that taking such a staunch position against the current government could get them in trouble with their conservative supporters. Undaunted, Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought the film back from Disney for six million dollars with the intentions of finding new distribution. After winning the coveted Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Weinsteins decided to rush release the film for the 4^th of July weekend, joining up with two of the country’s larger independent distributors, Lions Gate and IFC Films, to create the Fellowship Adventure Group, a company formed with the sole purpose of marketing and distributing Moore’s controversial film.

Michael Moore’s liberal extremist attitude was first seen in his 1989 documentary Roger and Me, in which he hunted down GM CEO Roger Smith to find out why he closed a plant in nearby Flint, Michigan putting many locals out of work. He continued this style of confrontational journalism in his 1994 television show “TV Nation”, which went through two or three different incarnations, being picked up and cancelled by a number of networks. Fahrenheit 9/11 isn’t the first time that Moore went after the president, although he took a more low-key approach with his 1995 documentary Canadian Bacon. That and the docs that followed, And Justice for All and The Big One, were mostly ignored, so Moore returned to television in 1999 with “The Awful Truth”. Bowling for Columbine was a breakout for the director in 2002, taking a staunch look at gun control in the country, including footage from 9/11 and the Columbine High School massacre. Its powerful message won Moore his first Palm D’Or, and a few months later, it won him his first Academy Award, leading to one of the most memorable moments the awards show broadcast has seen in a long time. With the country having just entered into war with Iraq, Moore decided to use his acceptance speech to rail against the decision by the President to use “fictitious reason” to start a “fictitious war”. While the same speech went over like gangbusters at the previous night’s Independent Spirit Awards, Hollywood was having none of it and Moore was booed off the stage. At the time, Moore was grasping at straws, and even some of his biggest supporters thought that his inappropriate outburst put him in danger of being seen as a crackpot. Over a year later after hundreds of military deaths, the rest of the country has begun to wonder whether the war was really necessary.

Despite the poor reception to Moore’s speech and the controversy that followed, many diehard liberals feel that Moore was right, and his decision to tackle the subject of the President and his ties to those responsible for one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil is going to be viewed with much interest. Regardless of what you think of him, Moore is a popular director who has found a niche market of like-minded individuals. Of course, not everyone in the country will be too thrilled with the mockery that Moore will try to make of Bush with the movie. For every person who likes Moore, there are probably two or more that hate him because he pushes buttons and gets up people’s noses with his “reporting”. Whether the latter will boycott or protest the movie is yet to be seen.

Unfortunately, there is a double edge sword at work, because up until the last few years, documentaries were not exactly big box office. So far, Bowling for Columbine is the highest grossing documentary ever with only $21.6 million, but thanks to Moore, documentaries are faring better and being taken more seriously by average moviegoers. Moore’s influence on independent filmmakers can especially be seen by this year’s Sundance hit Super Size Me and the documentary, The Corporation, in which Moore makes an appearance. Other acclaimed docs that have done well include Winged Migration, Capturing the Friedmans and The Fog of War, last year’s equally controversial Oscar winner. Seven of the top ten grossing documentaries were released in the last year. If Fahrenheit 9/11 is able to get into over 800 theatres by Friday, it will be the widest opening documentary ever, edging out Tupac: Resurrection, the MTV produced documentary that earned just under $5 million its opening weekend last year. (Update: Yup. It got 868 theatres. Widest documentary release ever.)

Michael Moore/Documentaries:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
Bowling For Columbine	10/11/02	8		$0.21	$26,144	$21.60
The Big One	4/10/98	33		$0.72	$4,451	$0.72
Roger and Me	12/22/89	4		$0.80	$20,063	$6.71
Super Size Me	5/7/04	41		$0.52	$12,585	$8.06
The Fog of War	12/19/03	261	2.249	$0.43	$1,663	$4.20
Tupac: Resurrection	11/14/03	801		$4.63	$5,874	$7.71
The Real Cancun	4/25/03	2,261		$2.11	$933	$3.82

Fahrenheit 9/11’s subject matter is far more global in its interest to mass audiences than Tupac. The country is more politically minded than ever and people will not only be driven to see the movie due to all the controversy, but also out of curiosity to see what Moore might say or show. Essentially, the audience for this movie can be broken down into two groups: diehard liberals that didn’t vote for Bush who may agree with Moore’s character assassination of the President, and conservatives looking for chinks in Moore’s armor in order to debunk his theories. Either way, the movie could be a strong factor in the election as it may make the decision a bit easier for any undecided voters.

The movie was slapped with an R-rating for some of its images including a beheading and gruesome shots of dead Iraqis, and like the footage of the Columbine shootings in Moore’s last film, many of the images may be too difficult for most audiences to watch or sit through. While you have to give Moore credit for not being afraid to show difficult things in order to prove a point, getting a PG-13 rating could mean a significantly larger audience, even though the movie’s main appeal will be to the over-18 voting crowd. Moore has enlisted the help of former New York governor Mario Cuomo to help him appeal the decision and get the lower rating, and he’s even been on MTV promoting the movie to interest younger voters. Unfortunately, Moore doesn’t really come across well on talk shows, as seen on David Letterman when he was put on the spot about the credibility of his data. (The latest obstacle facing Moore is that Ray Bradbury, author of the book “Fahrenheit 451," is asking for an apology and a title change for Moore’s movie since he was never asked for permission to use it.)

The moderate opening weekend release might make it harder for Fahrenheit 9/11 to break any box office records opening weekend, but the majority of the theatres will be in big cities. It’s not impossible that the theatres in liberal states like New York, Massachusetts and California will be packed creating a phenomenon not unlike the indie horror movie The Blair Witch Project which made over $29 million when it expanded to around 1,000 theatres. Of course, its limited release helped to build buzz, and this is usually the method that would be used for films like Moore’s, but the Weinsteins decided to strike while the iron is hot.

Unfortunately, the minimal time since getting distribution in early June means that Fahrenheit 9/11 has not been able to get the press or promotion often needed to get people into theatres. (There may not even be an advance review at CS.) New Line rush-released the pseudo-documentary The Real Cancun into theatres a few short weeks after it was filmed, and that lack of time to promote the movie might have been damaging. Then again, the news and media has been all over the movie, its loss of distribution and the ratings problems, so people will know it exists. As a matter of fact, recent Nielsen tracking surveys showed that 47% of people polled were aware of the movie, although that doesn’t necessarily mean they will go see it. The Weinstein coalition has also put together $10 million to promote the film—that’s $4 million more than the movie cost to make—which includes things like a special web site set-up to make it easier for people to find theatres and buy advance tickets.

Already the most talked about film since Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, the hype and demand for Fahrenheit 9/11 can be seen by its early entry into the Moviefone Top 10 and ComingSoon.net's Top Previews list as soon as word got around that it would be released on Friday. To get a head start in “Moore Country”, Fahrenheit 9/11 opens on Wednesday in two New York City theatres, and the business that it does--possibly as much as $100,000*--should be indicative of how the movie might do over the weekend, as a wave of liberals rushes out to see it. It should make close to $15 million over the weekend--more than half what Bowling for Columbine made in its entire run--and it should continue to expand and build word-of-mouth over the course of July, making upwards of $50 to 60 million before all is said and done. (*Update: The movie is certainly doing well in its New York City pre-release. One downtown theatre sold out most of its 21 showings and decided to run the movie around the clock, something that hasn't been done since the last Star Wars movie. Of course, this is in the city where the 9/11 terrorist attacks occured.)

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THE NOTEBOOK (New Line Cinema)
Starring: James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Joan Allen, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Marsden, Sam Shephard
Directed by: Nick Cassavetes (John Q, She’s So Lovely)
Rated PG-13
Tagline: “Behind every great love is a great story.”

From Nicholas Sparks’ best selling 1996 novel, a man (James Garner) visits a woman with Alzheimer’s and reads a story to her from a faded notebook about the steamy romance between two young people from different backgrounds (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams) who were separated by World War II but reunited seven years later.

In a summer full of war, violence and guys in dresses, it seems appropriate for Hollywood to return to its roots with a straight romance movie that harks back to classic films like From Here to Eternity and Gone with the Wind. Romantic dramas that span the years used to be fairly common fare, and these days, many romantic novels are being adapted for the big screen, the most recent and biggest one being Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of the best-selling Cold Mountain, starring Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Jude Law. Although it failed to receive the Oscar nominations it was hoping for, it did well over the holidays among women and their dates. Before that, there were a few more modest attempts at adapting novels like Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Tuck Everlasting, both which got significantly smaller audiences, presumably fans of the original books. Tehn again, this year has also seen romantic drek like Stateside and A Slipping Down Life, both of which bombed in limited release in the last month. At least The Notebook is based on a novel by the writer of A Walk to Remember, which was adapted into a successful big screen vehicle for Mandy Moore a few years ago; it’s directed by Nick Cassavetes, son of legendary filmmaker John Cassavetes, who was at the helm for Denzel Washington’s John Q in 2002.

Despite its illustrious roots, The Notebook might have a hard time getting a mass audience, since there is virtually no star power. Neither of the two young stars have much experience in major films so their names and work may be unfamiliar to most moviegoers. A veteran of the era of Mickey Mouse Club that spawned Britney, Cristina and Justin, Ryan Gosling avoided pop music to develop himself as a serious dramatic actor, making a mark as star of The Believer, the controversial favorite that received acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001. After that, he played opposite Sandra Bullock in the disappointing 2002 thriller Murder by Numbers, which came out a few months after both A Walk to Remember and John Q. He recently returned to his indie roots for The United States of Leland with Kevin Spacey and Don Cheadle. Though not as well known as other actors of his generation, Gosling has gotten some attention for his talent and good looks, which could help sell The Notebook to the ladies. His co-star Rachel McAdams was last seen as part of the evil high school clique in Lindsay Lohan’s Mean Girls, but she’s even less known than Gosling.

The rest of the cast may be more impressive to cinephiles as James Garner plays a rare dramatic role opposite Gena Rowlands, who starred in dozens of the movies directed by Nick Cassavetes’ father. Younger people will remember her as the creepy mother in Angelina Jolie’s thriller, Taking Lives. Actress Joan Allen is another respected actress who appeared in Rod Lurie’s The Contender, for which she received her third Oscar nomination, and she’ll also appear in the highly anticipated Matt Damon sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, this July. McAdams’ husband is played by James Marsden, best known as Cyclops from X-Men.

Related Comparisons:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
Murder By Numbers	4/19/02	2,642		$9.31	$3,495	$31.87
John Q	2/15/02	2,466		$23.61	$9,575	$71.03
She's So Lovely	8/29/97	824	$0.02	$2.39	$2,900	$7.24
A Walk To Remember	1/25/02	2,411		$12.18	$5,051	$41.23
Tuck Everlasting	10/11/02	1,185		$5.27	$4,446	$19.14
Moonlight Mile	10/4/02	434	$0.45	$1.88	$4,338	$6.79
Cold Mountain	12/26/03	2,163	$4.51	$14.57	$6,738	$78.38
Captain Corelli's Mandolin	8/17/01	1,595		$7.21	$4,520	$25.53

The steamy love scenes between Gosling and McAdams are probably the movie’s biggest draw, especially with younger women hoping to get their boyfriends in the mood for a bit of romance (or vice versa) but with so little promotion, the movie might be missed by many of the romantics that may be interested in it. Gosling and McAdams are doing the talk show rounds together to promote the movie, especially to younger women. Like so many other movies this past year, The Notebook received a special advance preview in hopes of driving up word-of-mouth among fans of romance, but who knows if anyone even knew about them. The credentials of those involved might help the movie go over well with critics—Ebert and Roeper have already given their thumbs up—but at this point, that’s the only thing that might help generate interest.

Otherwise, fans of Sparks’ book and romantic films, mostly women, will be the primary audience for The Notebook, and neither have really been that dependable. This seems like the type of movie that might do better as a limited release to build up word-of-mouth before expanding wider, but the strange decision to release it during a busy summer movie season with so many more prominent films will hurt its chances at smaking more than $7 or 8 million this weekend.

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TWO BROTHERS (Universal Pictures)
Starring: Guy Pearce, Christian Clavier, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear, Enemy at the Gates, Seven Years in Tibet, The Name of the Rose, Quest for Fire)
Rated PG
Tagline: “The acclaimed director of The Bear invites you to share their unforgettable journey home.”

Two brother tiger cubs are separated at an early age when their mother is killed by a hunter (Guy Pearce). The bolder one is sold to a circus where his spirit is broken, while the gengler one fights for his survival becoming wilder and more fierce. When they meet again as adults, they are pitted against each other as enemies.

In 1989, French director Jean Jacques Annaud made a valiant attempt to resurrect the nature movie made so famous by Walt Disney Pictures with The Bear. Although the film had a rather unimpressive opening, it was able to sustain a decent amount of family business, paving the way for other live action animals like Homeward Bound. His latest film has a strong feel of nostalgia that will make parents feel that it is a safer movie to which they can take their kids than some of the other fare out there. More importantly, Two Brothers is likely to be a quality film, since Annaud’s work stretches far beyond animal and nature films with some of hi past successes including Brad Pitt’s Seven Years in Tibet, The Name of the Rose and the war film Enemy at the Gates with Jude Law. Annaud also directed Quest for Fire, a dialogue free movie about a tribe of cavemen trying to survive over 800,000 years ago.

The only known human star in Two Brothers is Australian born Guy Pearce, who should win an award for most squandered career in show business. He first got attention for his role in L. A. Confidential, but his real break came four years later when he played a killer with poor memory in Christopher Nolan’s Memento. After that, he starred in two big screen adaptations, Jules Verne’s The Time Machine and Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, both of which grossed over $50 million. His three movies since then have only received limited releases and very little attention in the States. These include The Hard Word, a crime drama with “Six Feet Under” star Rachel Griffiths, Till Human Voices Wake Us with Helena Bonham Carter, and the long-delayed A Slipping Down Life, with another “Six Feet Under” vet Lili Taylor. None of them earned more than $500,000 domestically. Chances are that most of the young kids that might go see a movie about a pair of tiger cubs will have no idea who he is; the people who liked Pearce in Memento probably won’t have much interest in this. Therefore, his presence is negligible.

Guy Pearce:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
The Time Machine	3/8/02	2,944		$22.50	$7,609	$56.68
The Count of Monte Cristo	1/25/02	2,007		$11.38	$5,668	$54.23
Memento	5/11/01	445	$8.98	$1.22	$2,733	$25.93
L.A. Confidential	9/19/97	769		$5.21	$6,775	$64.62

Animal and nature films have disappeared from theatres almost entirely in the last ten years with the exception of the critically acclaimed documentary Winged Migration a few years ago. Sure, you can still catch them at your local museum and IMAX theatre, but there are so few being produced by the major studios for national theatrical release. For the longest time, Disney was the primary purveyor of the genre and The Bear did help to kick start a new wave, helping movies like Homeward Bound and its sequel to get to theatres, but for the most part, kids are more driven towards animation and computerized animals these days than the real thing. Either way, this it the type of movie that is usually dumped into a fall or spring release, so releasing this in a busy summer month almost guarantees that it will be overlooked.

Animal/Nature Films:

Title	Release Date	Theater Count	Previous Box Office (in millions)	Weekend Box Office (in millions)	Average	Total Box Office
The Bear	10/27/89	858	$0.02	$3.68	$4,289	$29.56
Winged Migration	10/11/02	1		$0.03	$33,128	$11.69
Operation Dumbo Drop	7/28/95	2,145		$6.39	$2,979	$24.63
Homeward Bound 2	3/8/96	2,119		$8.61	$4,063	$32.74
Homeward Bound	2/12/93	1,702	$0.10	$8.21	$4,824	$41.65

The only thing going for Two Brothers is that somehow Universal got the trailer attached to The Passion of The Christ, one of 2004’s biggest movies, maybe because it was the only safe movie that wouldn’t offend any of the religious types that rushed out to theatres to see Mel Gibson’s controversial epic. That was almost four months ago and the chance of anyone remembering the forgetful trailer after seeing Gibson’s movie is pretty minimal. Then again, those looking for safer movies to take the kids might pick this over something like Garfield or White Chicks. It will be much harder to promote this movie with the only star being Guy Pearce though.

That aside, the audience will likely be young kids, their parents and animal lovers, but most of them have enough other choices, so this innocent little film will likely fall under the radar. Look for Two Brothers to barely edge into the Top 10 this weekend with between $5 and 6 million max.

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UNDER THE RADAR

Do you live in a major North American city? If so, there are a number of limited release movies worth checking out. And if you don't live in one of the cities in which these movies open, look for some of them to hit your area sometime in the next few months.

FATHER AND SON (Wellspring Cinema)
THE INTENDED (IFC Films)
KAENA: THE PROPHECY (IDP Distribution)
TIME OF THE WOLF (Palm Pictures)

Aleksandr Sokurov’s Father and Son explores the close relationship between a father and his son Alexei, who live in a rooftop apartment together, causing problems in their relationships since women are intimidated by their close bond. When Alexei’s father thinks about taking a new job and wife in a different city, the situation worsens. The Russian drama opened in New York last week, and it will open in Los Angeles on Friday.

Set in 1924, The Intended follows an English couple’s trip deep into the jungle hoping to earn their fortune at an ivory trading post, instead encountering greed and murder. This dramatic film by Danish director Kirstian Levring opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend.

Chris Delaporte’s sci-fi fantasy, Kaena: The Prophecy is about a girl, voiced by Kirsten Dunst, who must save her people when her world is coming to an end. Featuring the voices of Richard Harris and Anjelica Huston, France’s first fully computer animated feature opens in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco this weekend. An Interview with director Chris Delaporte

Michael (Code Unknown) Haneke’s latest drama, Time of the Wolf, is about a French woman (Isabelle Hubert) and her family, who arrive at their vacation home to find it occupied by strangers. When a global crisis hits the country creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, they need to learn to deal with drastic changes. This Cannes Film Festival selection opens in limited release this weekend.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR

After months of hype, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, the sequel to the 2001 action-comedy remake of the 70’s show Charlie’s Angels hit theatres this weekend, but it failed to meet the expectations set by the studio or analysts, earning less opening weekend than the original. Still, its $37 million opening weekend did put it on top of the competition, including Universal’s The Hulk, which took a mighty tumble of 70% when the bad word-of-mouth got around. It had to struggle to make $100 million by the end of the summer though. The same can’t be said for Danny Boyle’s horror flick 28 Days Later, Already a hit in England, the apocalyptic thriller opened in just under 1,300 American theatres and with tons of buzz from the festival circuit, it made around $10 million, generating enough buzz to maintain its business for the next few weeks.

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Next week, Spider-Man 2!!!

Copyright 2004 Edward Douglas