Sony hopes to reinvigorate a slow September with a couple of new releases. First off is the 3D animated Hotel Transylvania [HTRNS] featuring Adam Sandler [ASAND] as Dracula and his buddies as other classic monsters of cinema. Dracula’s rebellious daughter is played by Selena Gomez [SGOME], which should appeal to young kids. The marketplace has been starved for a movie that serves a broad audience, so the PG-rated comedy arrives in theaters at the right moment. Checking into 3349 theaters, Hotel Transylvania could book at least $26 million.
Sony counter-programs itself with the R-rated sci-fi actioner Looper [LOOPR]. Joseph Gordon-Levitt [JGORD] stars as an assassin who has to kill his older self from the future in the form of Bruce Willis [BWILL]. Time traveling stories are always popular if contained with the right internal logic. With excellent reviews, Looper appears to have accomplished that goal, which should attract a smart audience looking for a movie with an original premise. Playing in 2992 theaters, Looper may deliver around $23 million.
Last weekend’s upset winner End of Watch [ENDWT] should hold well with its excellent word of mouth. A decline around 45% would bring in $7.5 million for third place.
With an older target demographic that waits on opening weekend, the baseball drama Trouble with the Curve [TCURV] may drop just 40% to $7 million in its second weekend. On the other hand, the horror thriller House at the End of the Street [ENDST] looks to tumble more than 55% to $5.5 million since most of its young target audience came out on last weekend.
The weekend’s third new wide opener Won’t Back Down [WBACD] stars Maggie Gyllenhaal [MGYLL] and Viola Davis [VDAVI] as mothers taking on the public school system to improve their kid’s education. The PG-rated drama looks to interest only older women, who could just wait for the story to appear on the small screen. Won’t Back Down may earn just $4 million from 2515 locations.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): HTRNS, ASAND, SGOME, LOOPR, JGORD, BWILL, ENDWT, TCURV, ENDST, WBACD, MGYLL, VDAVI