The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend brings 3 new wide openers. The supernatural horror Mama [MAMA] stars Jessica Chastain [JCHAS] and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau [NCOST] as a couple who take in her young nieces after they spent five years living in the woods. The Universal film is produced by Guillermo del Toro which should attract his male fanbases, while the PG-13 rating should appeal to women and teeangers that are into ghostly tales. Playing 2647 theaters, Mama may scare up $20 million over the 4-day weekend.
Chastain is also the Oscar-nominated star of Zero Dark Thirty [ZDTHR], which should exhibit a strong hold in its second weekend of wide release. The thriller about the hunt for Bin Laden could track down another $18 million through Monday.
Mark Wahlberg [MWAHL] and Russell Crowe [RCROW] tangle in the political corruption thriller Broken City [BRKCT]. Fox is promoting the R-rated film heavily, but the reviews needed to draw in the target adult audience have been average. Last year, Wahlberg’s Contraband bagged $28.4 million over the long weekend. However, competition is more fierce this year from Zero Dark Thirty to Django Unchained, and the film’s premise won’t appeal to Wahlberg’s younger fans. Showing in 2620 theaters, Broken City may tally $15 million over the long weekend.
Arnold Schwarzenegger [ASCHW] is back in his first lead role since leaving political office in The Last Stand [LSTND]. Lionsgate knows how to sell R-rated actioners to male moviegoers and the film has earned surprisingly great reviews, thanks in part to Korean-import director Kim Jee-Woon. But as with Broken City, the marketplace is crowded with action fares. Securing 2913 locations, The Last Stand could muster $12.6 million over the holiday weekend.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): MAMA, JCHAS, NCOST, ZDTHR, MWAHL, RCROW, BRKCT, ASCHW, LSTND