Earlier this week-George Clooney went abroad as The American (reviews) Justin Long is Going The Distance for Drew Barrymore (reviews) And Robert Rodriguez & Ethan Maniquis watch Danny Trejo wield a Machete (reviews)
Carl DiOrio of THR:
The summer box-office season concludes this weekend with a surprisingly diverse trio of wide openers.
The season-ending, four-day Labor Day frame often features an R-rated genre pic to lure older teens and young-adult moviegoers to multiplexes one last time before their return to college campuses. This year, it's Fox's blood-spattered crime actioner "Machete," co-directed by genre-meister Robert Rodriguez and tyro helmer Ethan Maniquis and produced by Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and Rick Schwartz.
The other two pics represent more novel gambits, as Focus Features debuts the George Clooney thriller "The American" -- which got a two-day jump on the action with a Wednesday bow -- and Warner Bros. unspools the romantic comedy "Going the Distance." There is recent precedent for such moves, but the results have been mixed.
For Labor Day weekend last year, Fox unspooled the rom-com "All About Steve." The Sandra Bullock-Bradley Cooper starrer topped the $125 million holiday-stretched frame -- which also featured the bows of R-rated sci-fi thriller "Gamer" and R-rated comedy "Extract" -- but its sub-$34 million domestic run ranks among the less lucrative theatrical outings for Bullock or Cooper.
Directed by Nanette Burstein ("American Teen"), "Distance" was produced by New Line for an estimated $32 million. Targeting date-night couples, the R-rated pic should skew significantly female based on casting.
Set to play in 3,030 theaters, "Distance" should run into the low-double-digit millions through Monday.
"Our core audience will tend to be female, but we're going after all moviegoers [ages] 18-40," Warners distribution boss Dan Fellman said.
Also toting a restricted rating and set for 2,669 locations, "Machete" boasts an ensemble cast including Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson and Danny Trejo as the blade-wielding titular assassin. Tracking surveys suggest a four-day bow of $10 million-$12 million. Fox acquired distribution rights for $8 million.
Helmed by one-time music video director Anton Corbijn ("Control"), "American" rang up $1.7 million on Wednesday in 2,721 theaters and is set for about 2,800 locations starting Friday. The R-rated pic appears on track for $10 million or more through Monday....
of EW:
'Machete' and 'Going the Distance' go head-to-head over Labor Day weekend
Reminder folks Jason Mayer's The Pendant (trailer) concludes it's run at the Sea Theater in Wildwood NJ. ... located at 4005 Pacific Avenue Showtime Tonight @ 7:30 PM! Go!!! And then read my review of the pic posting over the long Labor Day weekend...
Today I was thrilled to chat with lead actress Kristy Richman for an interview that will post soon as well....!
Stay Tuned
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