Andrew Stewart of Variety:
Sony looks to be its own biggest competition this weekend, as reigning champ "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" enters its third frame with $63.8 million to date and R-rated "Zombieland" bows at 3,036 playdates.
Four other films enter the frame, all vying for a piece of Sony's pie.
Leading the barrage should be Drew Barrymore's girl-power directing debut, "Whip It," which Barrymore toplines alongside Ellen Page and Juliette Lewis. Pic heads into the frame at 1,720 locations after a sneak last weekend at 502 drew a strong response at 65% capacity.
Warner Bros. has modest expectations for Ricky Gervais starrer "The Invention of Lying," opening at 1,707, while Overture's Michael Moore docu "Capitalism: A Love Story" looks to capitalize on a profitable limited release as it goes into its soph sesh at 962, the widest initial expansion to date for Moore, following "Fahrenheit 9/11" at 868. "Capitalism" has already taken in $372,034 as of Wednesday. Opening weekend per-screen average was $58,250; Overture's "Sunshine Cleaning" previously held the top average for 2009 with $54,798.
"Meatballs" should encounter some competition from Disney's re-release of the "Toy Story" franchise in 3D. The double feature looks to siphon younger auds for a two-week run at 1,745.
Reissue is meant to build anticipation for Disney's latest addition to the toon franchise, "Toy Story 3," slated for release next summer. It also acts as a testing ground for Disney's back catalog to get the 3D treatment.
The Mouse said it would be open to extending the two-week run depending on the toons' performance.
In 1995 the first "Toy Story" opened with $29.1 million at 2,281 locations. The two films have cumed $847 million worldwide.
Rivals estimate the reissue could finish in the $10 million-$15 million range, while "Zombieland" and "Cloudy" could top out in the low to mid 20s.
After a less-than-stellar debut for "Surrogates" with $15 million at 2,951, Disney's sci-fi thriller is likely to see a 40%-50% decline, especially with "Zombieland," targeting a similar demo, added to the mix.
Pic, starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin, is in a similar vein as zomcom "Shaun of the Dead," which opened strongly with $3.3 million in a 2004limited release for Focus.
Sony expects "Zombieland" to play well with males under 25. Pic is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with the undead. Harrelson plays a goofy zombie killer who teams up with Eisenberg and Breslin en route to a rumored zombie-free Hollywood theme park.
Fox Searchlight's "Whip It" has shown strong tracking with young females. Roller-derby dramedy should benefit from Barrymore's appeal to younger femmes and Page's role as a nerdy teen who finds social acceptance through the sport. Page's starmaking turn in "Juno" helped propel the pic to $143 million at the domestic B.O. ...
EW's Nicole Sperling expects Woody Harrelson to lead this horror-comedy to No. 1 this weekend
Expectations for Zombieland are high enough that the Director And Stars Talk Sequel Potential...
Next Week: Stars come out for the getaway comedy Couples Retreat.
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