The Bottom Line: Who’s on the Hot Seat this Summer?
By Robert Sims, Special to Hollywood.com
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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Nicolas Cage |
Summer’s here, and that means the following folks have much to gain or lose:
Nicolas Cage
Last Seen: The Weather Man ($12.4 million)
Next: The Ant Bully (Aug. 4); World Trade Center (Aug. 9); The Wicker Man (Sept. 1)
The Bottom Line: United 93’s steady takeoff suggests we’re ready to watch recreations of the events surrounding 9/11. That’s good news for Cage and director Oliver Stone, whose fact-based World Trade Center recounts the attempt to rescue two policemen from the rubble of the toppled Twin Towers. After the failures of Lord of War and The Weather Man, Cage could especially use a hit that doesn’t bear producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s name.
Tom Cruise
Last Seen: War of the Worlds ($234.2 million)
Next: Mission: Impossible 3 (opened May 5)
The Bottom Line: The years-in-the-making M:iIII feels like an tired episode of 24, what with Ethan Hunt going all Jack Bauer to save his new wife. And M:iIII's estimated $48 million opening--lower than the first sequel's $57.8 million opening--prompts two questions. Has Hunt undertaken his last mission? And has the public’s finally grown sick of the new daddy’s sofa-jumping antics? The answer, to both, is a likely yes.
Paul Giamatti
Last Seen: Cinderella Man ($61.6 million)
Next: Lady in the Water (June 2); The Ant Bully (Aug. 4); The Illusionist (Aug. 18)
The Bottom Line: Giamatti doesn’t get the respect he deserves. How else to explain his failure to land Oscar nominations for American Splendor and Sideways? But the versatile character actor can help his cause if he can carry an aspiring blockbuster such as M. Night Shyamalan’s bedtime story. Everything will be rosy if this is work of the director who surprised us with The Sixth Sense. Heaven help Giamatti if he’s toiling under the huckster who tried to fool us with The Village.
Colin Farrell
Last Seen: Ask the Dust ($733,032)*
Next: Miami Vice (July 28)
The Bottom Line: The Irish party animal’s had a rough time of late thanks to Alexander and The New World. His last hit was 2003’sS.W.A.T., so no wonder he’s in another film based on a TV series. If director Michael Mann goes for the grit of Collateral, rather than the glitz and glamour of his 1980s cop opera, then Miami Vice should prove very Miami nice for Farrell’s stalled career.
* Through April 30
Hugh Jackman
Last Seen: Van Helsing ($120.1 million)
Next: X-Men: The Last Stand (May 26); Scoop (July 28)
The Bottom Line: With Van Helsing unlikely to slay another day, Jackman needs a victorious Last Stand so he can launch a potential spin-off franchise in Wolverine. And after the lukewarm responses to Someone Like You and Kate & Leopold, he needs Scoop--directed by Woody Allen and costarring his Match Point seductress Scarlett Johansson--to finally make him a romantic lead women will swoon over.
Lindsay Lohan
Last Seen: Herbie: Fully Loaded ($66 million)
Next: Just My Luck (May 12); A Prairie Home Companion (June 9)
The Bottom Line: Lohan’s finally fled the Mouse House—and not a moment too soon. Just My Luck represents Lohan’s first stab at a romantic comedy. Still, if it’s nothing more than a Kate Hudson castoff, it won’t do any better than rival Hilary Duff’s The Perfect Man. More important is Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion. If Lohan holds her own against Meryl Streep, then the former teen queen has a shot at Jodie Foster-like longevity.
Josh Lucas
Last Seen: Glory Road ($42.6 million)
Next: Poseidon (May 12); Coastlines (May 31)
The Bottom Line: Glory Road wasn’t Remember the Titans, so Lucas' leading-man status remains very much in question. Poseidon should fare better than last summer’s disastrous Stealth, but Lucas still needs to display Gene Hackman-like smarts and heroics if he’s to emerge triumphant from this remake. If Poseidon sinks without a trace, so will Lucas.
Kevin Smith
Last Seen Directing: Jersey Girl ($25.2 million)
Next: Clerks II (Aug. 18)
The Bottom Line: It’s one thing for Smith to alienate his slacker following with a mature romantic comedy featuring Ben Affleck grieving over Jennifer Lopez. And even after Jersey Girl fell victim to the Bennifer backlash, no one expected Smith to play it safe. But a sequel to his blue-collar classic? It’s either going to be very funny or very bad. Fingers crossed it’s the former, or Smith's reputation is going to take a fatal hit.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Last Seen: White Oleander ($16.3 million)
Next: I Could Never Be Your Woman (July 28)
The Bottom Line: Does a four-year absence make the heart grow fonder? Pfeiffer will find out with this comedy from Clueless director Amy Heckerling, in which she gets all lovely dovey with toy boy Paul Rudd. If sparks fly between Pfeiffer and Rudd, this May-to-December romance should be appointment viewing for the chick-lit crowd.
Luke Wilson
Last Seen: The Family Stone ($60 million)
Next: Hoot (opened May 5); My Super Ex-Girlfriend (July 21); Idiocracy (Sept. 1)
The Bottom Line: Not even die-hard conservationists gave a hoot about Hoot which opened with an estimated $3.4 million. So it could be a cruel summer for Wilson (see last week’s The Bottom Line). With Fox seemingly dumping Idiocracy, the spoof My Super Ex-Girlfriend represents Wilson’s best shot at a summer smash. But he could be in for trouble if audiences are sick of superheroes after X3 and Superman Returns.
Photo(s) by Albert L. Ortega- © 2004- Hollywood Media Corp.- All Rights Reserved