The Day The Earth Stood Still, which opens wide tomorrow, is running at 81, 48 and 25 — decent to pretty good business. Big Hollywood’s Steve Mason foresees $36 million as of Sunday night, but says in the same breath that $100 million domestic is unlikely.
Delgo, which no one knows or cares about, is at 24, 22 and 0. And Nothing Like the Holidays is 52, 30 and 5…modest business.
On 12.19 we’ll see the opening of Gabriele Muccino and Will Smith ‘s Seven Pounds, which is now running at 71, 49 and 8 — kinda low for a Smith movie. Its strongest (and perhaps stronger) competitor is Jim Carrey‘s Yes Man , which is at 79,39 and 8 — except that a comedy is always an easier sell than a drama. Universal’s animated The Tale of Despereaux is running at 56, 29 and 2.
On 12.25 comes Bedtime Stories – 71, 38 and 5. Marley and Me is 76, 35 and 6. Spirit is 43, 34 and 3. Valkyrie is 65, 38 and 6.
The reason Valkyrie is coming out before 12.31, I’m told, is because MGM’s pay TV deal expires with Showtime expires at the end of this year, and they’ve got a less well-paying pay TV deal starting next year. They’re MGM and they don’t have any clout any more, nobody’s giving them any new money but they need to generate money now.
