Whisper Numbers: Bruno flames on Optimus Prime
After a month on hiatus, the Box Office Whisperer is back with a preview of the upcoming weekend at the movies. Let’s see what Hollywood has in store for moviegoers.
Sacha Baron Cohen [SBCOH] arrived in 2006 with Borat, a cult favorite which broke out into a pop culture blockbuster. The British comedian returns with Bruno [BRUNO], another caricature who utilizes the same outrageous antics of ambushing innocent bystanders for R-rated laughs. While the Kazakh reporter endeared moviegoers with his naïve incompetence, the gay Austrian may turn off some audiences with his flamboyant sexuality. However, there’s no doubt Bruno will be bigger than Borat. Although Borat opened in just 837 theaters before expanding, Bruno will burst onto the scene in sequel fashion, tripling its locations to 2755. With Cohen receiving endless press coverage from a world premiere tour, Bruno could push the boundaries to around $42 million.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs [ICEA3] couldn’t topple Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [TFRM2] last weekend, debuting in second place. However, the prehistoric mammals should beat the mighty morphing robots the second time around. The family crowd may have been outdoors over the 4th of July holiday which fell on a Saturday. As the top choice for families, Ice Age should retain close to 60% of its audience and take in about $24 million.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen became the first film in 2009 to cross the $300 million milestone. The toy-based action sequel is likely to drop more than 50% in its third outing to come in around $20 million.
The R-rated drama Public Enemies [PUBNM] has been better received by viewers than director Michael Mann’s [MMANN] last film, Miami Vice, which tumbled 60% in its second weekend. With a roughly 45% decline, the Johnny Depp [JDEPP] gangster film would hit $14 million in its second run.
The PG-13 rated comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper [ILUBC] stars Hayden Panettiere [HPANE] as the object of affection for a nerdy high school valedictorian. The setup has failed to generate any buzz, so subsequently Fox has been light on the marketing. Perhaps enough teens will buy tickets in order to sneak into Bruno to bring the opening to more than $5 million from 1858 locations.
That’s the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): SBCOH, BRUNO, ICEA3, TFRM2, PUBNM, MMANN, JDEPP, ILUBC, HPANE
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