Jessica Alba and my favorite stand-up comedian Dane Cook (both pictured) get together for the slap-sticky romantic comedy Good Luck Chuck (reviews)...
Milla Jovovich fights off the end of everything again in Resident Evil: Extinction (reviews)... While Amanda Bynes takes a classic tale and tries to update it as Sydney White (Reviews)... David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises (reviews) goes wide...I'll let you figure out which one of the quartet is getting kudos
Pamela McClintock and Dave McNary of Variety
They'll be plenty of box office action this weekend for younger moviegoers as Sony's horror three-quel "Resident Evil: Extinction" battles it out with Lionsgate's Dane Cook-Jessica Alba laffer "Good Luck Chuck."
Also debuting is Morgan Creek-Universal's Amanda Bynes starrer "Sydney White," a modern-day retelling of Snow White set on a college campus. Comedy should draw younger girls, since it's rated PG-13, while "Resident Evil" and "Good Luck" are both rated R.
Distribs and exhibitors expect the trio of new players to help bump up theater traffic after two relatively slow frames. "Resident Evil" unspools in 2,828 locations; "Good Luck," 2,612; and "Sydney," 2,102.
On the more serious side of the multiplex, Focus Features' goes wide this weekend with David Cronenberg's Russian mob drama "Eastern Promises," starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Film, which debuted over the Sept. 14-16 frame in four theaters, will play 1,404 locations.
Focus is looking to mimic the success New Line enjoyed with Cronenberg's last film "A History of Violence" when going wide in the second frame and grossing $8.1 million, according to Rentrak.
There are several high-profile pics opening in limited runs, including Warner Bros. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. Drama, directed by Andrew Dominik, opens in two locations each in New York and Gotham, one in Toronto and 10 in Austin, Texas, a test market for Westerns.
Sony Pictures Classics opens Robin Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club," whose ensemble cast includes Maria Bello, Emily Blunt and Kathy Baker, in 25 theaters in Gotham, New York, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and Phoenix.
Paramount Pictures Vantage opens director Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," starring Emile Hirsh and based on the bestselling book by Jon Krakauer, in four theaters in Gotham and L.A. Penn wrote the adapted screenplay.
Expanding this weekend in their second frame are Julie Taymor's dreamy romancer "Across the Universe," which Sony/Revolution ups from 23 to 276 theaters, and Paul Haggis' Tommy Lee Jones-Charlize Theron drama "Into the Valley," which Warner Independent Pictures ups from nine locations to 300.
Sony's "Resident Evil," which returns Milla Jovovich to the bigscreen in the role of Alice, is drawing heavy interest among fanboys. Pic, based on the survival horror vidgame, is helmed by Alexandri Witt in his feature directorial debut.
Expectations are that the three-quel, penned by franchise scribe Paul W.S. Anderson, should be able to near the $23 million opening weekend gross for the last installment, "Resident Evil:Apocalypse," on its way to a domestic cume of $50.7. First pic, "Resident Evil ," grossed $40.1 domestically.
But "Good Luck," drawing upon the star power of Alba and Cook, is whipping up strong interest as well, although interest is more evenly divided among the genders. Although the pic is considered a strong draw for the younger set, some older movie goers are expected to turn out as well. Another advantage: comedy in general has been a payoff this year.
"Good Luck," directed by Mark Helfrich, is expected to easily outpace the opening gross for Cook's last [comedy] pic, "Employee of the Month," which opened to $11.4 million in October 2006. "Employee" also starred Jessica Simpson.
"Sydney White," directed by Joe Nussbaum, isn't predicted to do double-digit biz. Bynes' "She's the Man" opened to $10.7 million in March 2006. Actress most recently starred in "Hairspray."
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Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly:
Smart scheduling will translate to a winning debut for the franchise flick; meanwhile, Jessica Alba and Dane Cook will need all they luck they can get...
Despite really, really, bad reviews, I'm pulling for Cook and Alba...Dane deserves some good fortune after the Summer '07 disaster that was Mr. Brooks.
Next Week: Director Peter Berg takes movie-goers inside The Kingdom...With Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman leading the way...
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