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B.O. FORECAST: Selling 'The Cell'
B.O. FORECAST: Selling 'The Cell'
By
Steve Ryfle
, Hollywood.com Staff
|
Thursday, August 17, 2000
HOLLYWOOD - Call it Big Booty vs. Godzilla. Who will win? Odds are on the Booty.
"The Cell," a new serial killer thriller from New Line, is the clear front runner for the No. 1 position at the box office this weekend. Its the rest of the Top 10 that hard to predict.
Two other new films, the Japanese juggernaut "Godzilla 2000" and the ha-ha concert flick "The Original Kings of Comedy" will also hit theaters, but they're more geared to niche crowds and appear to have limited box-office potential. That means the Top 10 will be dominated by holdovers from weeks past, like "Hollow Man," "Space Cowboys," "The Replacements" and "What Lies Beneath."
Here's a rundown of this weekend's new films:
"The Cell" THE CELL (See the trailer) The Skinny: Jennifer Lopez uses newfangled movie technology to go inside a serial killer's mind and stop a murder. Or something. The Upside: "It's like the best of New Line," box office expert Brandon Gray (of boxofficemojo.com), tells Hollywood.com. "It should appeal to the urban market, because of Jennifer Lopez and the horror element. It also has the special effects element that New Line is known for, in pictures like "Blade," "Spawn" and "Mortal Combat." The Downside: Last summer, New Line tried to stake its late-summer box office claim with "The Astronaut's Wife." We don't need to remind you what happened to that one.
"Godzilla 2000" GODZILLA 2000 (See the trailer) The Skinny: After the critical failure of it's big-budget "Godzilla" remake two years ago, Sony gives the people what they want: The man-in-a-suit, old-school Japanese monster. The Upside: It's got the camp nostalgia factor going for it, so Gen X (or whatever they're called) kids and baby boomers will hoot and holler. And kids love dinosaurs. The Downside: Will people really pay $8.50 to watch a guy in a rubber suit crush balsa wood buildings?
"The Original Kings of Comedy" THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY (See the trailer) The Skinny: Spike Lee directs this live-concert film featuring four of the biggest African-American stand-up comics. The Upside: This kind of thing has worked before: "Eddie Murphy Raw" killed 'em in 1987. The Downside: We've seen Eddie Murphy. We like Eddie Murphy. Steve Harvey ain't no Eddie Murphy.
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