George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and self-described sell-out Matt Damon reunite with director Steven Soderbergh for Ocean's Thirteen (reviews)--This time, Al Pacino is along for the ride; Horror hack man Eli Roth is back as well, with Hostel 2 (reviews); Shia LaBeouf stars in his second film this year with the CGI animated Surf's Up (reviews)
Ian Mohr and Dave McNary of Variety
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow's "Ocean's Thirteen," the latest summer sequel, will roll into multiplexes this weekend with high hopes.
Tracking indicates that the third installment of the star-studded heist franchise, from producer Jerry Weintraub, should see the biggest opening in the series. Original pic hit $38.1 million back in 2001, while the follow-up moved the mark to $39.1 million.
Sony enters the marketplace, meanwhile, with its PG-rated animated entry "Surf's Up" -- a further cinematic foray for penguins after hits "March of the Penguins" and "Happy Feet."
Pic about a surfing penguin slides into 3,528 locations and will lock horns with DreamWorks Animation's holdover "Shrek the Third," which has been achieving stronger holds than some of its summer competish so far.
Also standing in George Clooney and company's way is Lionsgate's sequel in the hard-R horror franchise "Hostel," which slices its way to 2,350 theaters in an aggressive play.
First pic in the series chopped off $19.5 million in its opening weekend last year.
But the horror genre has been having a tough go of it lately -- with pics including "Grindhouse" not making the B.O. grade -- and splatter specialists will be hoping "Hostel II," from Eli Roth, marks a comeback.
Largely positive reviews for "Thirteen" should help the "Ocean's" crew after the last pic, which was poorly received and made about $60 million less at the domestic B.O. than "Ocean's Eleven."
Also in "Thirteen's" favor has been a somewhat steep domestic dropoff in ticket sales for Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which dipped more than 61% in its second frame last weekend.
Last two pics were notably holiday releases for Warners, which is opening "Thirteen" in 3,565 theaters this weekend.
Universal laffer "Knocked Up," from helmer Judd Apatow, should hold well after opening No. 2 behind "Pirates" in its debut...
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Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly writes:
Odds are the star-packed casino caper walks off with more weekend loot than ''Surf's Up'' or ''Knocked Up'' ...
The reviews for the Ocean's flick are very good. Adding to its already broad appeal; While the other 2 new films seem to be going for niche demos.
Next Week: Another surfer hangs 10--trying to stir things up at the cineplex with Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer...
omg
ReplyDeletei can not wait to see this movie. i loved the first 2. this one i think will be great to. There is so many good movies comming out this summer that i don't know which one to see first, but this movie is totally one of the movies that i will be seeing in theaters.
Allison