8/5 – 8/7 Two weeks of consecutive failed openings has to mean audiences are ready for something new. You’ve all seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at least twice by now. Thanks for kicking Gene Wilder in the groin. Things are ripe for a new number one, and it’s going to be The Dukes of Hazzard. There’s no other competition. With the box office volatility flying around these days it’s hard to say how much it’ll make, but don’t be shocked if it clears fifty million. The possibility of a nearly naked Jessica Simpson is not to be underestimated.
Next week things get a little more competitive, but here’s my usual look at what’s new this Friday:
Misc. Limited Releases (Opening on fewer than 500 screens.)
It’s a huge weekend for limited releases, at least as huge as it gets for movies only playing in one theater. Friday marks the debut of anticipated films like the stalker documentary My Date with Drew, and the Donnie Darko-esque film The Chumscrubber. Less interesting is Saint Ralph, a movie about the quest of a 1954 marathon runner. All three should be available to you if you live in a major city with an art district/gay district/homeless hangout. In even more miniscule release (6 theaters) is the trippy, futuristic, Hong Kong Sci-Fi movie 2046.
But the one I’ve really got my eye on is the new Bill Murray/Jim Jarmusch movie Broken Flowers, debuting in 27 theaters. Frankly, I think they could have gone with a wider initial release and still packed folks into theater seats. It was the Grand Prix prize winner and Cannes, and though that carries little weight with general audiences, the presence of Bill Murray does. There’s a little place inside me that wishes this was actually Lost in Translation 2, but if Jarmusch’s film about re-visiting old girlfriends even approaches that Sofia Coppola movie’s greatness then this should be something special. Murray has earned a lot of credibility as a fantastic actor, let’s hope this is the one that gets him a deserved Oscar win. If you can find it anywhere near you, don’t miss Broken Flowers. Seek it out and see what’s up. There’s only one wide release this weekend, so that’ll be my pick by default, but this is the one not to miss.
The Dukes of Hazzard (Opens in 3,785 theaters.)
This weekend we find out if advertising Jessica Simpson’s ass pays off. I’m going to guess yes. The Dukes of Hazzard is going to be huge, and I guarantee none of the audience is showing up to see Sean William Scott’s “guns”. Butt beauty aside, the film’s not a total mess. There’s not a single person in it who knows how to act, and the jokes are cheap and generally unfunny, though there is a good bit with the Duke boys in black face. The movie really nails the car though and the chases, filmed in the style of the old show, are really a lot of fun. Better still, director Jay Chandrasekhar uses actual cars. Alright, maybe that should be a given, but in this day of CGI it’s not the sort of thing you can take for granted. This isn’t quite the family friendly “Dukes” of the old show, but it’s stupid, empty-headed, and occasionally fun. You can’t expect more from it than that.
