Also hoping for the all important family crowd is the fantasy flick Eragon (reviews). And from the looks of things--it's a tougher sell than "Web" and certainly doesn't have any of Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe type buzz. But the demographic of males under 25 could prove me wrong. Philadelphia's own Will Smith teams up with his real life son Jaden Smith for the dramedy The Pursuit of Happyness (reviews)....In limited release is award season contender Dreamgirls (reviews), Steven Soderbergh's The Good German (reviews), and director Irwin Winkler's ill-received Iraq war drama Home of the Brave (reviews) And finally, there is the Bollywood film Kabul Express
Daily Variety's Ian Mohr coughs up some stats for the weekend openers:
A family-pic fracas is brewing this weekend at the multiplexes as Fox's reimagined classic "Charlotte's Web" stacks up against Paramount's fantasy pic "Eragon."
Both pics are going up against Sony's Will Smith starrer "The Pursuit of Happyness," which lands at 2,852 playdates.
"Web" will spin in 3,566 engagements and "Eragon" hits 3,020.
Also of interest will be Par's unusual rollout of Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls": Studio is releasing the film as a "roadshow," charging $25 a pop for tickets and offering fans at three theaters -- in Gotham, Los Angeles and San Francisco -- reserved seating and special programs as part of the package.
Scheme has so far resulted in sellouts on Friday night in all three venues. (Saturday is sold out at Gotham's Ziegfeld as well, and the L.A. venue's Saturday engagement at the ArcLight was nearly full late Thursday.) Par rolls out the pic in earnest on Christmas.
Holding over will be Mel Gibson's Disney release "Apocalypto" -- last weekend's surprise No. 1 -- which should convert further fans. Helmer's "The Passion of the Christ" took in $53.2 million in its second frame two years ago.
Sony's "The Holiday," meanwhile, will have to try and hang on amid the competish: Pic looked like a No. 2 finisher Sunday but actually slipped a spot when actual receipts were tallied, dropping behind Warner Bros. penguin pic "Happy Feet."
Warners political adventure "Blood Diamond" got off to a slow start last frame but has been gaining ground during the week and could benefit from Golden Globes nominations. Pic bowed to $8.6 million in its first weekend but surged to $11.2 million by Thursday with slight daily drops in biz.
Smith's last pic, the Sony romantic comedy "Hitch," bowed to $43.1 million last year on its way to $179.5 million.
Thesp hasn't had a pic open below that mark since his 2001 biopic "Ali," which preemed to $14 million.
Then again, Smith's pics since "Ali" have either been big-budget actioners, such as "I, Robot" and "Bad Boys II," or comedies like "Hitch." "Happyness" sees the thesp taking a purely dramatic, fact-inspired turn as Chris Gardner, a father who overcomes tremendous hardship to support his son.
Though "Web" and "Eragon" are ostensibly going for the same family aud, the pics are tracking quite differently.
Women over 25 -- perhaps moms who grew up with the book or Par's animated version from 1973 -- seem to be one of this new version's most eager demos. Neither teens nor auds under 25 seem as interested.
"Eragon," based on the literary fantasy phenom, has teens pumped as well as males under and over 25.
Both pics have to contend with B.O. behemoth "Happy Feet." Warners feels the CG-animated pic has the potential to play quite strongly through to January and pass $200 million on the way.
Specialty film sector, which has been having a tough time wooing auds away from more mainstream studio fare this season, will offer up a number of new awards hopefuls from well-regarded helmers.
Pics opening on five screens or fewer include Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German" (Warners), Irwin Winkler's "The Home of the Brave" (MGM) and Anthony Minghella's "Breaking and Entering" (Weinstein Co.).
Over at Entertainment Weekly Joshua Rich predicts:
Will Smith may get bitten by a spider, and this weekend's fire-breathing dragon isn't looking so hot...
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