In an ironic twist, director Stephen Herek's Rock Star opens against yet another adaptation of The Three Musketeers. Herek directed his own version of the Alexandre Dumas-penned swashbuckling adventure in 1993, starring Chris O'Donnell as D'Artagnan with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Oliver Platt declaring all one and one for all. In director Peter Hyams's The Musketeer, former model Justin Chambers unsheathes his sword as D'Artagnan to face Wahlberg's Planet of the Apes adversary, Tim Roth.
The need for another Musketeer-- even one flaunting choreographed, stunt-heavy sword fights--remains a mystery. Also, Hyams didn't exactly light up the box office with his most recent efforts, End of Days and Sudden Death. Accordingly, The Musketeer is unlikely to challenge the $53.4 million that Herek's The Three Musketeers captured.
Aimed squarely at black audiences, Two Can Play That Game should enjoy the same attention enjoyed by similar previous romantic comedies starring Morris Chestnut and Vivica A Fox. Chestnut's The Brothers smooth-talked its way to $27.4 million earlier this year. Fox's Booty Call rang up $20 million in 1997. But Two Can Play That Game seems to lack the mainstream appeal that made Fox's 1998 Soul Food a $43.4 million hit and inspired a Showtime series.
Unlikely to show much in the way of endurance is Soul Survivors, given its competition. The teen horror yarn--on the shelf for one year, then delayed from the end of summer while cut to secure a PG-13 rating, then released in only 600-plus theaters--goes head to head against Jeepers Creepers and The Others. Soul Survivors could serve as nothing more than a footnote in the promising careers of stars Wes Bentley (American Beauty) and Eliza Dushku (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).