Dave McNary and Andrew Stewart of Variety:
Warner Bros. is getting in touch with its wild side with Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" entering the frame at 3,735 locations. The live-action fantasy stars newcomer Max Records as the boy who runs away to a realm populated by talking beasts.
Universal hopes auds may still feel a little punch-drunk love for last week's top earner "Couples Retreat" in its soph sesh at 3,009 playdates. Last week's box office event "Paranormal Activity," with $7.9 million at 160 playdates, expands to 800 after an online poll allowed users to vote to bring the pic to their city. Budgeted at $11,000, Paramount's horror pic has cumed a staggering $12.5 million as it enters its fourth frame.
Overture's action pic "Law Abiding Citizen," starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, opens wide this weekend at 2,889. Butler's two other pics this year, Lionsgate's "Gamer" and Sony's "The Ugly Truth," have cumed domestically $20.5 million and $88.9 million, respectively.
Sony's PG-13-rated horror-thriller "The Stepfather" bows at 2,734, and could lure scare-loving teen girls with "Gossip Girl's" Penn Badgley co-starring in the remake.
But the pic will face competition from strong word-of-mouth for "Paranormal." Meanwhile, Sony has two strong holdovers in "Zombieland" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," totaling $51.9 million and $99.5 million, respectively. "Zombieland" dropped 40% last weekend in its soph sesh, while "Cloudy" continued to perform well with younger auds in its fourth frame, declining only 27%.
Studio expects both pics to lose traction in a competitive frame as "Zombieland" goes head-to-head with another R-rated pic, "Citizen," while younger auds may opt a different kiddie lit adaptation with "Wild Things" instead of "Cloudy."
Based on Maurice Sendak's classic picturebook, "Wild Things" began production in 2006, weathering creative differences between Jonze and the studio along the way. Jonze's highest-grossing pics have been New Line's "Being John Malkovich" ($46.4 million) and Sony's "Adaptation" ($32 million).
Warner expects PG-rated "Wild Things," co-produced by Legendary Pictures, to perform in the mid-20s, with an added boost from 145 Imax screens. Studio said tracking is strong among those who grew up reading the book, including college-age auds and young adults, as well kids and teens.
"Couples" should perform well in its soph sesh after breezing through as last week's frame topper with $34.3 million. Pic put up strong mid-week numbers, earning $4 million Monday, dropping to $2.6 million Tuesday and $2.3 million Wednesday.
"Couples" is the only comedy in the marketplace but will likely decline 45%-50% with so many fresh titles ...
Nicole Sperling of EW expects the Spike Jonze adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book to win the weekend, even if parents keep kids away...
Next Week: The Halloween tradition continues as Jigsaw's legacy lives on in Saw VI; Astro Boy blasts off the big screen...
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