It's remake season at the box office this weekend, and for once, the lack of originality seems to be hurting them. Yes, early Friday numbers have Footloose edging ahead of Real Steel to win the weekend, with $5.4 million yesterday over the $4.4 million for the boxing robots. And yes, The Thing is right behind them with $3.2 million yesterday. But those numbers, according to Deadline, have the weekend tracking well behind this time a year ago, when Jackass 3D opened to a ridiculous $50 million.
No, none of the movies opening this weekend are in 3D, which definitely contributes to the low numbers. But basically, nobody seems all that interested in any of these. It doesn't help that The Thing is genuinely lame-- you can read our review here for more on that-- or that Footloose, despite being pretty good, still seems like a bubbleheaded remake of a movie that was already pretty silly. It's just that none of these movies feel like required viewing, the way all the best summer blockbusters can be. You can capitalize on a known property all you want, but that's still not going to be enough to get people to make the actual effort.
If you're still deciding what to see this weekend, Footloose is apparently the way to go. Chime in with comments on what you've seen, and whether or not it was worth it. If you're sick of the 80s remake trend, though, this weekend might be the first step toward ending it for good.
