Pamela McClintock and Dave McNary of Variety:
The race is on at the weekend box office as Disney family adventure "Race to Witch Mountain" takes on holdover "Watchmen."
"Witch Mountain," toplining Dwayne Johnson, opens today at the domestic box office in 3,187 runs.
Rogue Pictures/Universal's horrorfest "The Last House of the Left" also enters the scene and could take men away from "Watchmen." That's one reason no one's confident enough to say which of the trio of films will win the sesh.
The R-rated "Last House on the Left" opens in 2,401 theaters.
The weekend's other new release is raunchy comedy "Miss March," a Fox Atomic title being distributed by big Fox. Pic opens in 1,752.
Warner Bros.' "Watchmen" heads into its second weekend with a domestic gross of $65.3million through Wednesday. Pic opened to $55.2 million domestically and north of $26 million internationally.
Debut was less than expected, so B.O. legs are crucial if the film is to be eventually classified as a hit.
Actioners like "Watchmen" often drop more steeply in their soph sesh than pics in other genres. Anything beyond 60% will be considered high.
One thing "Watchmen" has in its favor is its 124 Imax runs. They could help stave off a bigger drop.
Box office observers say that "Race to Witch Mountain" and "Watchmen" could both end up in the low $20 million range. "Last House on the Left" is expected to come in below that, but no one's ruling out the possibility that the horror title could overperform.
"Race to Witch Mountain," a reimagining of the 1970s family franchise, reunites Johnson and director Andy Fickman in their first pairing since sleeper hit "The Game Plan." That film, also a Disney title, opened to $23 million in September 2007 on its way to cuming $90.6 million domestically.
"Witch Mountain," because of its action and special effects, will play older than "Game Plan" while still drawing the kids.
One big advantage for "Witch Mountain" is its PG rating. Family-friendly films are few and far between at this time of year, helping explain why Sony's PG-rated comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" has turned into a blockbuster, grossing $134.4 million since opening in mid-January.
Focus Features' 3-D kidpic "Coraline" also has come in well ahead of expectations, grossing $66.3 million to date. Both "Mall Cop" and "Coraline" remain on the top 10 chart.
Joshua Rich of EW:
Another month, another Friday the 13th, another batch of scary remakes on tap. Man, those movie-marketing/distribution wizards are predictable!
Next Week: The bromance begins in I Love You Man; Nicolas Cage Knowingly over acts as he tries to save the world; Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play rival spies in Duplicity...
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