We have quite a few films coming out this week. "District 9" is my pick to be at the top of the box office, but could have done a lot better had it been rated PG-13. I'm not saying they should have made the film a PG-13, but box office totals could have been bigger for "District 9". "The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard" probably isn't going to do much damage at the box office this weekend. The film will be hurt by the lack of talk and commercials. Who knows, maybe it will be a surprise like "The Hangover" was, but I strongly doubt it, especially according to weak early online ticket sales. "The Time Travler's Wife" could bring in decent money. It isn't an unsafe bet to say that its target audience are females ages 16 up. But don't expect it to do too much damage; its online ticket sales aren't near as high as "District 9", or even last week's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra". "Bandslam" may bring in a fair amount of money. I can't quite predict sales for the film too well since I have only heard about it just in the last week. With a weekend full of R-rated films, and adult romances, "Bandslam" may or may not bring in a large amount of box office. If it does, it will be because of the kids, and the early surprisingly positive critical buzz. "Ponyo", the new animated film from Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, has generated a strong critical buzz, at this moment the film holds a 97% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com. However, the film is in limited release, and despite the big names in its voice cast, I would be suprised to find that more than three out of every ten average movie goers has even heard of the film. If it does anything above average at the box office this weekend, it will be because of true lovers of film looking for another film to add to their top 10 list for 2009.
This is the first time I'm making a box office predictions list, so if it turns out to be very far from what does happen, that's my excuse. My box office predictions for the weekend of 8/14/09 - 8/16/09 are:
1. District 9 ($38 mil.)
2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($21 mil.)
3. The Time Traveler's Wife ($18 mil.)
4. Julie & Julia ($14 mil.)
5. Bandslam ($11 mil.)
6. The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard. ($9 mil.)
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($7 mil.)
8. G-Force ($4 mil.)
9. Funny People ($3 mil.)
10. A Perfect Getaway ($2 mil.)
