Day Of The Jackass

The new movies out this weekend, appeal to a wide spectrum of tastes, each one hoping that their target audience will put them on top. All The King's Men (reviews), a political drama with a top tier cast, isn't fairing so well among professional critics... Jackass Number Two (reviews), while not trying to be anything more than what it is, looks poised to be in the number one spot--when the dust settles.

Ian Mohr of Variety sizes up the weekend for us:

Fall may be widely viewed as the time of year for highfalutin fare, but Paramount's sequel to gross-out pic "Jackass" should bring in droves of young males to take the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend.

Pic bows in 3,059 engagements and is the frame's widest new release.

Universal genre division Rogue, meanwhile, will aim for the same demo with "Jet Li's Fearless" on 1,806 screens. Neither should beat Dimension Films' new limited-release horror film "Feast."

Sony, meanwhile, will roll out Steven Zaillian's star-studded "All the King's Men," aiming for an older [crowd] via 1,514 engagements.

Frame's other new wide release is MGM's "Flyboys," helmer Tony Bill's fighter-pilot period piece.

MGM is releasing the film on 2,033 playdates as part of a service deal for Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment banner, which raised the $60 million budget as well as the pic's marketing fund.

"Jackass Number Two" marks the start of a spate of lowbrow pics rolling out in coming weeks to vie for young male[s]...

With that pic likely to lead the field--possibly reaching into the high $20 millions -- the chart's following slots could be well off that pace.

Either way, pic should boost biz overall after two limp frames in a row.

"All the King's Men," a bigscreen adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel, stars Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo.

Sony also has last week's No. 1, "Gridiron Gang" holding over.

With a hunky cast that includes James Franco, "Flyboys" will try to serve as the frame's option for female [movie-goers]...

Read the entire article here...

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly thinks "Jackass: Number Two" will be No. 1, adding Knoxville and Co. will gross the most

As for the rest of the pack--Flyboys (reviews) may have plenty of beefcake for the ladies, but from the looks of things, that won't do anything to soften what looks to be a very hard landing. Feast (reviews) is a horror film, born out of the now defunct Project Greenlight--It's only getting a three week theatrical run, in favor of a quick DVD debut... Finally, there's Fearless (reviews), Jet Li's "last martial arts film"--looking to take him away from the genre in fine style.