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Friday, October 13, 2006

Nudging A Grudge

Leading off the new releases for this week is The Grudge 2 (reviews). I very much enjoyed the first film in the series--the second one looks decent enough--and is poised to take the top spot after all the receipts are counted...

Other fresh flicks include: The Marine (reviews), an actioner that is very reminiscent of the kind of films Arnold Schwarzenegger used to make in the 80's... The drama One Night With the King (reviews) is based on the novel by Mark Andrew Olsen and Tommy Tenney of the same name and is clearly the "Serious" pic of the lot; Despite having the talents of writer/director Barry Levinson and funnyman Robin Williams on its side, as political satire Man Of The Year (reviews) is getting a vote of "no confidence" from critics.

Ian Mohr of Variety sizes up the contenders for us:

After waking up last Sunday to his most flush weekend ever, Martin Scorsese should find his star-studded, sophisticated crime drama "The Departed" deposed by the latest installment of Sony's "The Grudge" horror franchise.

Pic -- with Sarah Michelle Gellar back in the lead -- should pack a potent punch heading into Halloween: First remake in the series bowed a year ago to $39.1 million on its way to $110.3 million.

And gunning for "Departed's" older-skewing core aud, meanwhile, will be Barry Levinson and Universal's populist political fantasy "Man of the Year," in which Robin Williams toplines as the U.S. president.

Fox will bow "The Marine," which has been getting a raft of promotion through World Wrestling Entertainment.

Sony isn't expecting "Grudge 2" to hit the opening frame heights of its predecessor in a market still offering the latest in New Line's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise, which bowed to $18.5 million last frame.

Last year, "Grudge" had little genre competish. But in the sequel's corner is that it's the frame's widest new release, with 3,211 playdates, and it's rated PG-13, whereas "Chainsaw" is rated R.


Continue reading the article here

Competition aside, Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly says, "The Grudge 2" will possess the No. 1 spot this weekend... adding: The horror sequel will scare up big bucks leading into Halloween I think he's right...

The Grudge 2
The Creepy Albino Child Is Back!

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