Previsión taquilla Estados Unidos

08 noviembre 2007

Last week, American Box Office lived a superb reborn thanks to Bee Movie and American Gangster. This weekend, a Christmas story (Fred Claus) will take on the audience attention but first, Fred has to fight with lions, lambs and a mad parking guard.

Meanwhile, animation film Bee Movie and gang-story American Gangster will keep their magnetism among moviegoers. Dreamworks and Universal are confident that both movies will down less than a 30% and 40% respectly.

Warner family comedy Fred Claus will open in about 3,400 sites with the objective to fill theatres with children and parents. Fred Claus has not obtained good reviews but it doesn’t matter in this kind of movie, so people will pack the venues, as they did with Tim Allen’s Santa Claus saga. Warner will easily put the film on box office top with $40M.

Fred Claus has a funny trailer and good plot on its side, enough to keep family audience during following weeks. Moreover, during the next two weeks no other family pic will open. Easily, Fred will obtain a final $140M final gross, as Elf, Santa Claus and Polar Express in past years.

Lions for Lambs and P2 are the other wide releases this weekend. Tom Cruise’s United Artists first production Lions for Lambs bows in 2,200 sites aiming to be luckier than Michael Clayton, Gone baby gone and Rendition releases. However the interest of the adult moviegoers is not linked with this kind of moral dramas, which means Robert Redford’s Lions will not gross more than $6M. Despite of that, UA is confident that the fiml will open with $10-11M. The real question is whether people will elect this drama in front of presitgious films as Michael Clayton and Gone Baby Gone.

Co-starring Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise and Robert Redford, the film has a budget of $35M, but the final gross will not surpass $20M in domestic. We will see whether international audience want to see this complex, moral and politic drama, whose reviews haven’t been good.

Submit Entertainment bows P2 in 2,000 locations trying for attract young audience among 15 and 20 year-old. Horror thriller film will have to fight with Fred Claus, American Gangster and Saw IV focused on this sort of people as well. Starred by Wes Bentley, P2 will gross close to $4M. P2 cost $8M to produce but distributor company has spent $20-25M which means that the movie have to obtain $45M to have benefits. Another horror flop.

About horror pics, Lionsgate’s Saw IV will down 55% in its third frame, as previous saga films did. Final gross will be $70M, $15M less than the second and the third film, but with only $10M final cost. Lionsgate is shooting the next two parts to be released during next April (Saw V) and in November (Saw VI). Money makes the world go round.

In limited, After Dark’s Horror Festival will release in 330 sites only this weekend, with the purpose to obtain a similar success of previous After Dark’s Horror Festival (2006) which grossed $2’5M last year.

Coen bros.’ last picture No country for old men will open in limited 28 sites, with the intention to take part in the award season which begins in just few weeks with the National Board of Review Awards. Coen’s movie has obtained quite good comments in many festivals.

Majors aim to achieve another great weekend as last did. Every gang, bee, lion and black lamb are ready.

Pau Brunet