FILM: New to the Box Office - 3/16/07

Last weekend 300 conquered with a deafening $70 million right out of the gate, ripping Wild Hogs out of the top spot. Sans the typical press-push for a comic film—stars visiting every single media outlet in the world—they impressively attracted faithful comic readers and tripled their audience with the CGI-laden trailer.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks, Zodiac, a promising thriller, had a fatal drop from #2 to #5. Word has quickly circulated that it's an exhausting 2hrs 38min of procedural fact regurgitations and hardly any first person serial killer accounts, which, for a generation that thrives on visuals, makes for a boring Friday night. While we're on the subject of failures, The Number 23 has only managed to gain $30 mil in 3 weeks. Jim Carrey's foray into serious thrillers has been met with the same enthusiasm as that of his venture into dramas (The Majestic). Undoubtedly Carrey was trying to recreate himself like he did in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, when he was showered with praise.

However, despite the fairly obscure reputation of The Bridge to Terabithia—in comparison to Harry Potter and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—which has amassed a slow and steady box office of $66 million, and Breach, which, banking solely on good reviews, has reached $30 mil in 4 weeks.

This weekend, 300's main competition lies with the following:

PREMONITION


First, there's the supposed Chick flick meets Horror Thriller. Sandra Bullock faces the terrifying realization that every other day she wakes up her husband (Julian McMahon) is dead. She spends a majority of the film trying to prevent his death on the days he isn't dead and trying to outsmart the Grim Reaper. Could be a great date movie because of the mix of romance and suspense.

I think I love my wife

Chris Rock's characters have evolved from a fast talking, street-walking chump to an overworked, underappreciated husband, showing how much he's aged. Since a couple of midde-aged, semi-experienced comedians have already swept the box office packing in $88 mil with Wild Hogs, there's no reason Rock can't scrounge up at least half that since he's peaked the interest of women who'd like to know what goes through their husband/boyfriend's mind when they're thinking of cheating and commiserated with the men who know what temptation feels like.

DEAD SILENCE
I am not a fan of clowns, puppets, or clowns and puppets that murder. So if you want to see this trailer, youtube it yourself. However, if you don't have any clown or puppet related phobias and happen to have enjoyed Child's Play and several other voodoo-oriented horror films, you might find this one enjoyable. I can only bare to entertain the clever tagline uttered by drone-like children: "And if you see her, do not scream, or she'll rip your tongue out at the seam." This horror film is the only real competition 300 will have.