Friday, November 30, 2012

Box Office Preview: "Soft" Weekend

This weekend the cineplex welcomes Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, and Scoot McNairy who are Killing Them Softly (reviews) for director Andrew Dominik; Marcus Dunstan & Patrick Melton show off items in The Collection (reviews).


Pamela McClintock of THR:

Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly, opening Friday, could mark Brad Pitt's lowest nationwide opening in more than a decade.

Box office observers expect the modestly budgeted independent film to gross in the $8 million to $10 million range. The Weinstein Co. bought U.S. distribution rights to the film from Inferno Entertainment, which financed the crime drama with Pitt's Plan B production company and Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures.

Holdovers The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2 and Skyfall are expected to lead the box office overall, with a crush of films duking it out for the remaining top spots, including Killing Them Softly, Lincoln, Life of Pi, Rise of the Guardians and Wreck-It Ralph.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is generally devoid of big studio releases, and this year is no exception.

After Killing Them Softly, the only other new release is horror pic The Collection, a sequel to the 2009 The Collector. Both were independently financed, with The Collection distributed in North America by LD Entertainment. The movie is expected to open in the $4 million range.

Killing Them Softly, based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins, stars Pitt as professional enforcer Jackie Cogan, who is charged with investigating a robbery at a mob-protected poker game. Budgeted at $15 million, the film also stars Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini and Sam Shepard.

The movie made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May; its release was subsequently moved from September to November.

Pitt is a consistently strong box-office draw, and there's always a chance Killing Them Softly could overperform. Among his nationwide live-action releases, his last lowest opening was $11 million for Fight Club in 1999.

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