Clint Eastwood isn't going quietly into his twilight years. Since 1992's Oscar-winning Unforgiven, Eastwood now more often than not portrays heroic characters coming to terms with old age. Space Cowboys rocketed in 2000 to $90.4 million on the strength of catapulting Eastwood and three fellow grumpy old men into orbit.
In Blood Work, Eastwood is a retired FBI director and the recent recipient of a new heart that came from a murder victim. He's later hired to track down the victim's killer.
Based on a novel by Michael Connelly, and directed by Eastwood, Blood Work isn't likely to distinguish itself from Eastwood's numerous other crime thrillers. That will hurt Blood Work's chances at the box office. In recent years, audiences have embraced Eastwood when he plays atypical roles, such as Space Cowboys' astronaut, The Bridges of Madison County's photographer and Absolute Power's cat burglar.
Blood Work will more likely follow the path of 1999's True Crime, in which Eastwood played a has-been reporter investigating the guilt or innocence of a man on death row. True Crime opened with $5.2 million and amassed just $16.6 million.
Eastwood's one of the few actors of his age who can still sells tickets, so Blood Work could generate a modest $10 million from its 2,525 theaters. That would allow Blood Work to at least double True Crime's lowly total.
Helping Eastwood's cause: Tom Hanks' Road to Perdition is slowing down, having dropped 41 percent in its fourth weekend from $11.1 million to $6.6 million, for a total of $79.3 million through Wednesday.
Still, Eastwood must contend with Signs.
The alien invasion was greeted with a heavenly $60.1 million debut. That's the second-best August opening, behind Rush Hour 2's $67.4 million. It also ranks as the best debut for Mel Gibson, beating Ransom's $34.2 million, and for director M. Night Shyamalan, almost doubling Unbreakable's $30.3 million.
With $82.4 million through Wednesday, Signs has surpassed the $78.1 million total that Gibson's We Were Soldiers captured earlier this year. It should also exceed Unbreakable's $94.9 million total by Friday and cross $100 million by Saturday.
A second weekend haul of between $30 million and $35 million puts Signs on track to make between $185 million and $200 million. Signs would then become Gibson's biggest earner, beating What Women Want's $182.8 million total.
Signs hastened the demise of K-19: The Widowmaker. Harrison Ford's Russian submarine thriller sank a harrowing 61 percent in its third weekend, from $7.2 million to $2.8 million, for a total of $30.7 million through Sunday.