Judgment Day For McG

During the holiday weekend--It's machine VS. exhibit VS. The Wayans Family at the cineplex

McG takes us to the not to distant future in Terminator Salvation (reviews) as John Connor (Christian Bale) battles to save mankind; While Ben Stiller runs wild for another Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (reviews); And Dance Flick (reviews) hopes to be footloose, fancy free...and funny...



Dave McNary of Variety:

Terminator" fans showed their support for the franchise with $3 million at the box office for Thursday midnight screenings of "Terminator Salvation" in an early start to what should be a robust Memorial Day weekend.

Warner Bros. didn't disclose how many theaters offered the 12:01 a.m. shows as it launched the fourth "Terminator" at 3,580 playdates domestically, with 50 venues added today. Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" grossed nearly $5 million in 1,595 midnight runs on May 1, and in March, Warner's "Watchmen" grossed $4.6 million at such midnight shows.

In a matchup of tentpoles aimed at different audiences, Fox launches "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" today at 4,096 domestic runs.

Tracking indicates both should wind up the weekend at more than $50 million, with "Salvation" banking on strong support among males while "Smithsonian" takes advantage of being the first famiy pic in the marketplace since "Monsters vs. Aliens."

"Smithsonian," which held its world premiere at the Smithsonian last week, is also launching at 161 Imax venues. The original "Night at the Museum" took in $18.3 million at Imax sites, or 7% of its $251 million domestic cume.

Paramount offers counterprogramming to the tentpoles with the spoof "Dance Flick," opening today at 2,450 theaters...

Nicole Sperling of EW:

Race for no. 1 this weekend figures to be very close between Ben Stiller family comedy and Christian Bale's franchise reboot

T-4 clearly has the edge with its early release--but it's gonna be close with NATM 2 appealing to more families than the other new widers...Reviews for all 3 pics are not exactly stellar...

Next: UP arrives in CGI animated 3-D; Sam Raimi wants to Drag Me To Hell after I meet The Brothers Bloom...