The Eve Of Destruction

This weekend at the cineplex: Roland Emmerich is up to his old tricks in 2012 (reviews) But NASA says the science of the film is pure hogwash-"There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades"; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays on Pirate Radio (reviews) An all star cast brings an animated Fantastic Mr Fox (reviews) to life in director Wes Anderson's very first CG film. As it begins a limited run before expanding wide by Thanksgiving.



Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Sony expects to dominate the worldwide box office this weekend as Roland Emmerich's latest disaster spectacle "2012" opens across all territories, looking to match the mammoth foreign success of the helmer's "The Day After Tomorrow."

Domestically, "2012" debuts in 3,404 runs and is expected to have a fairly apocalyptic opening ­ -- box observers say it could open north of $40 million, or even substantially more.

Overseas, it opens on roughly 13,000 screens in 105 countries. Emmerich's "Day After Tomorrow," released by Fox in 2004 grossed a massive $357.5 million overseas and $186.7 million domestically.

Focus Features opens Richard Curtis' "Pirate Radio" in 882 runs at the domestic B.O. Film, produced by Working Title and released by Universal Pictures overseas, underperformed at the foreign B.O., but Focus believes it will work domestically as counter-programming to "2012." Since the overseas run, Curtis has made changes to "Pirate Radio," while Focus revamped the marketing campaign to target baby boomers.

Twentieth Century Fox is starting out Wes Anderson's quirky family toon "Fantastic Mr. Fox" on a limited basis, opening in four theaters in Los Angeles and New York. Film stars the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep, and will expand nationwide on Nov. 25.

"Mr. Fox" is a big Fox title, although Fox Searchlight has consulted on the marketing. Studio is hoping to get both families and the arthouse crowd. Toon has done brisk business in the U.K. since debuting three weeks ago, grossing north of $11million.

Lionsgate expands Lee Daniels' "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" from 18 runs to a total of 174. Film enjoyed a boffo opening last weekend, grossing $1.8 million to score the best opening number ever for a film opening in fewer than 50 runs.

Among holdovers, box office observers will be watching to see how Robert Zemeckis' big-budget "Disney's A Christmas Carol" does in its second sesh. Film launched with a fairly soft debut, although family films can stick around longer than other genres.

"Christmas Carol" did see a sizeable bump on the Veteran's Day school holiday, grossing $5.4 million for a cume through Wednesday of $39.4 million..

Nicole Sperling of EW predicts a $65 million opening for Roland Emmerich's world-destruction spectacle...