Liam Neeson puts his action hat on for Taken (reviews); Usually playing the good gal Elizabeth Banks gets nasty in The Uninvited (reviews pictured); And finally Renée Zellweger is New In Town (reviews)
Dave McNary and Pamela McClintock of Variety:
Breaking a longstanding taboo, Fox is releasing male-driven pic "Taken" on Super Bowl weekend...
Super Bowl weekend is usually the exclusive domain of female-driven titles. To that end, Paramount opens horror pic "The Uninvited," from DreamWorks, and Lionsgate unspools Renee Zellweger-Harry Connick Jr. romantic comedy "New in Town."
Among Oscar hopefuls, Fox Searchlight’s best pic nominee "Slumdog Millionaire" is expected to turn in another strong performance in its second week in wide release. Domestic gross through Wednesday was a boffo $58.7 million. Pic ups its theater count to 1,633 from 1,415 last weekend.
Focus Features’ "Milk" and the Weinstein Co.’s "The Reader," also best picture contenders, expand nationwide for the first time in their limited runs. "Milk," with a cume of $21.9 million, ups its theater count from 250 to 882. "Reader," earning $10.1 million through Wednesday, expands to 1,002.
Expansions will prove a key test for both films, which have different challenges in terms of appealing to smaller markets.
Last weekend, Universal took "Frost/Nixon" nationwide after receiving the top Oscar nom, grossing $3 million for a domestic total of $12.7 million. Best pic contender "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," from Paramount, is well into its run, cuming roughly $112.5 million to date.
The January box office ends on a high note, running more than 7% ahead of last year. "Taken," toplining Liam Neeson as a former government operative whose daughter is kidnapped, is tracking best among males, but older women are interested as well. Pic, also starring Katie Cassidy and Maggie Grace, was produced and co-written by Luc Besson.
Pic is going out in 3,183 runs.
Theater traffic on Super Bowl Sunday can fall off by as much as 75%, with the drop particularly steep among male moviegoers.
Since plenty of femmes still turn out, however, the forecast is solid for horror film "The Uninvited," an English-language remake of Korean film "Changhwa Hongryon" that toplines David Strathairn, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Browning.
Story revolves around a girl and her sister who suspect the motives of their future stepmother. Par opens the horror pic in 2,344 theaters.
Lionsgate takes "New in Town" out in 1,941 with modest expectations. Movie revolves around a high-powered executive who goes to a small town for work, only to have her life upended.
Last Super Bowl weekend, Disney opened "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" to a boffo $31.1 million. Other Super Bowl openers include "When a Stranger Calls" ($21.6 million) and "The Wedding Planner ($13.5 million)...
Joshua Rich of EW sees the Liam Neeson thriller outscoring two other rookies and two previous champs to finish as Super Bowl weekend's No. 1 movie
Next Up: The star packed He's Just Not That Into You tries to untangle the relationships puzzle between men an and women; The Pink Panther 2 provides Steve Martin with another shot at playing . Jacques Clouseau; While Push-with Chris Evans seems like a cross between Jumper and TV's Heroes...
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