After seeing every other studio cash in on the 3D animated film craze, Universal finally joins the party with Despicable Me [DESME]. Steve Carell [SCARE] voices an evil mastermind who wants to take over the world with his minions, but also has to babysit three little girls. At least that’s what piecing together all the various trailers seems to indicate. Marketing has been all over the place, literally and figuratively, as the PG-rated film seems eager to please every segment of the audience. Despicable Me does appear to have enough broad appeal to zap roughly $34 million from 3474 theaters.
Despite earning $176.4 million in its first six days, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse [TWLI3] has already fallen behind the pace set by The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which grossed $178.9 million in six days. The franchise has maxed out on moviegoers interested in Twilight and the fanbase is unlikely to grow further. Eclipse looks to lose 55% from the first weekend to around $30 million, which should be enough for the second spot.
Fox hopes going back to the jungle with the sci-fi actioner Predators [PRED3] will make fans forget the two Alien vs. Predator films. Even with Robert Rodriguez [RRODR] “presenting” the new film, some moviegoers may still take a wait and see approach on whether the R-rated sequel delivers the goods. Adrien Brody [ABROD] and Laurence Fishburne lead a cast that does not have any drawing power on its own. Landing in 2669 theaters, Predators may hunt down $26 million.
The fanbase for The Last Airbender [BENDR] turned out to be bigger than expected. The cartoon adaptation is unlikely to crossover to demographics outside families with young children due to its poor reviews. The fantasy could still gather a reasonable $22 million in its second weekend.
The Toy Story 3 [TOYS3] shouldn’t take too much of a hit even with direct competition from another 3D CG animated film. The Pixar sequel could tally up another $18 million.
That’s the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): DESME, SCARE, TWLI3, PRED3, RRODR, ABROD, BENDR, TOYS3