Ryan Reynolds is Green Lantern; (reviews) Jim Carrey hopes for hit as he trains Mr. Popper's Penguins; (reviews) And Freddie Highmore practices The Art Of Getting By (reviews) with Emma Roberts
As far as the critics are concerned: The entire line-up gets panned....
Pamela McClintock of THR
Warner Bros.’ pricey superhero pic Green Lantern — buoyed by Father’s Day — is poised to win the weekend box office race, while 20th Century Fox’Jim Carrey starrer Mr. Popper’s Penguins is bracing for a slippery ride.
Officially, Warner Bros. is saying Green Lantern should open between $50 million and $60 million domestically. Box office observers believe it will come in on the high end of that range, if not higher, and launch a new franchise, despite poor reviews.
Father’s Day has become a strong movie-going holiday for Hollywood as kids and dads look for something to do together. Green Lantern, based on the D.C. Comics character, could be a preferred choice, since it’s tracking best among males over the age of 25. Younger males are a strong second, followed by younger females who want to see Ryan Reynolds in the title role.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins likewise hopes to be a favorite option on Father’s Day because of its family friendly storyline, but soft tracking has required Fox to readjust its expectations. The studio is now projecting that Penguins will open in the $10 million to $15 million range, a disappointing launch.
Fox says its financial exposure is limited since Popper’s Penguins cost $55 million to produce. In much of the movie, real penguins were used, versus having to rely solely on special effects.
Warners has much more at stake financially, with Green Lantern costing $200 million to produce. The original budget was $150 million, but special effects and the 3D conversion drove up the price tag.
Green Lantern will need to do well overseas, where it rolls out in 15 markets this weekend, in addition to a strong domestic run. The good news: 3D is booming internationally.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Green Lantern features Blake Lively as the love interest and also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins and Angela Bassett.
Green Lantern opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday, and will play in a total of 3,816 theaters over the weekend, including 2,711 3D runs. The film business will be watching closely to see how the movie does in 3D, after lower-than-usual turnouts for other 3D summer tentpoles.
Directed by Mark Waters, Penguins is about a divorced dad who redeems himself after a flock of penguins overtake his Manhattan apartment — and life. The movie also stars Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury and Philip Baker Hall. Penguins, based on the beloved 1938 children’s book, could prove a test for Carrey’s ongoing appeal.
One studio exec said he expects Penguins to do well internationally, where it begins a slow rollout this week, and on DVD.
Penguins was originally set to open in August, but Fox moved the release date up to Father’s Day weekend, incorporating the holiday into its marketing campaign (take "your pops" to see Popper's Penguins)....
Keith Staskiewicz of EW asks: Just how much green will 'Green Lantern' see?
I'm disapoointed the reviews for GL are not better but in no way deterred from seeing the film in theaters--Just wondering aloud if this is gonna be Superman Returns all over again? Bloated budget Lukewarm respose?
GL's is a complete unknown quantity overseas unlike other superheroes. How it does will depend quite a bit on the reaction coming out of the United States since it opens here first
No comments:
Post a Comment