Six new films battle "300" for box office honors
By Nicole Sperling
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Reigning box office champion "300" will face competition from six new films at the weekend box office, but it's likely the grisly epic will manage to log a third session at the top.
The challengers include one horror film, "The Hills Have Eyes 2"; two kid flicks, "TMNT" and "The Last Mimzy"; and three adult dramas, "Shooter," "Reign Over Me" and "Pride."
The R-rated "Hills" sequel has the best shot of taking first place from "300," which earned $33 million last weekend after losing a respectable 54 percent of its opening haul.
Industry insiders expect the horror to open in the mid-teen millions, on par with the $15.7 million bow of its predecessor in March 2006. Released by Fox Atomic, the nascent youth-oriented division of art-house studio Fox Searchlight, the new film revolves around a group of National Guard trainees who are attacked by mutants during a training mission in the New Mexico desert. It was directed by Martin Weisz, the German commercial and music video veteran behind 2002's "60 Seconds."
Warner Bros. is relaunching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise with the PG-rated "TMNT," looking to lure a young male audience. Industry insiders place the film's debut in the low-teen millions.
The CGI feature from writer-director Kevin Munroe ("Freaky Flyers") takes off as a follow-up to the first two movies in the series that bowed in 1990 and 1991, respectively. "TMNT" features the voices Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Ziyi Zhang, Laurence Fishburne and Chris Evans.
"Shooter," a conspiracy thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, is likely to bow in the low-teen million range, competing for the same demos as "TMNT." The Paramount film was pushed back a week to put more space between it and "300." Wahlberg plays an exiled marksman who is lured back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Michael Pena, Danny Glover and Kate Mara co-star for director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day").
New Line executives are releasing their boss' first directorial effort in 17 years with the family-friendly "Mimzy." The PG film, directed by New Line co-chairman and co-CEO Robert Shaye, revolves around two children (Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) who develop special talents after they discover a mysterious box of toys. Joely Richardson, Timothy Hutton and Rainn Wilson also star. Industry insiders have the film pegged for an $8 million-$10 million opening.
"Reign," from writer-director Mike Binder ("The Upside of Anger"), stars Adam Sandler as a man who lost his wife and daughters in the World Trade Center attacks. He runs into his old college buddy (Don Cheadle), and the two rekindle a friendship that helps Sandler's character deal with his grief. The R-rated film is expected to gross $8 million-$10 million.
Lionsgate's "Pride," from director Sunu Gonera, stars Terrence Howard in the fact-based story of a Philadelphia swimming coach. It's expected to open in the $6 million-$8 million range.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
