Friday, 03 October 1997

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Movie theaters load up on product this weekend, with four new releases and the expansion (finally!) of L.A. Confidential. As a result, the bottom of the top 10 should be significantly more impressive -- last week's number 10 was G.I. Jane with $1.3 million, this week's number 10 should do about $3 million. On the downside, none of the new openers look like major successes. Last week's top three all climbed over $11 million. I don't expect any films to hit the $11 million mark this weekend.

Look for Morgan Freeman's return to chasing psycho killers, Kiss the Girls, to lead the pack with around $10 million. Last week's surprise hit, Soul Food, may well be the most solid returnee, with incredibly positive exit-poll numbers, dropping just 20 percent to take second spot with $9 million. Last week's number one and number two spots should take the average 30 percent dips, leaving The Peacemaker at number three with $8.7 million and In & Out in fourth place with $7.9 million. U-Turn, the latest kink from Oliver Stone, should open in fifth, with a soft $6 to $7 million.

In the bottom half of the order, L.A. Confidential and its crew of Oscar nominees-to-be expands its screen count, actually increasing its gross, but not enough to rise above $5.5 million and a sixth-place finish. The second weekend for The Edge should find Sir Anthony falling over the side, dropping 40 percent for a $4.6 million, eighth place finish. Janeane Garofalo, the studio proclaimed "Funniest Woman In America," couldn't stand watching her face on a 15-foot screen and walked out of the New York premiere of her first starring vehicle, The Matchmaker (more on that in The Hot Button weekender). Four million bucks and eighth place feels about right for the name-pronunciation-challenged comedienne. Michael Douglas stays in The Game for one more week, dropping another 40 percent to $3 million to take the ninth spot. The naked Brits of The Full Monty may be in their final full-frontal assault on the top 10, round out the deci-leaders with $2.5 million or so.

Top 10 drop-outs look to be (in descending order): The Wishmaster, A Thousand Acres and G.I. Jane.

Have a good weekend at the movies and come back Monday to check out the results. You can even mock me via e-mail.