$22.7 million. That's how much money audiences pumped into the latest crappy horror remake this weekend. Inexcusable? Yes. Unexpected? Not so much. Of course the fact that Prom Night is the number one movie in America means a studio exec somewhere is typing up an e-mail memo starting discussion of a sequel. Brittany Snow would be on board (read the story here, but she also signed up for The Pacifier and John Tucker Must Die. The bar's not set real high.
The mediocrity of Street Kings was met with a matching cash gift at the box office. With only $12 million it barely made half what Prom Night banked and probably didn't earn enough to cover Keanu Reeves' and Forest Whitaker's pay checks. Of course, even with a weak $12 million start there's a good chance the movie will somehow stumble into financial success. Reeves' is like a Hollywood rabbit foot. His movies have a lucky tendency to somehow get out of the red, no matter how weak they are.
Smart People fared well enough for a movie in small release, but not well enough for a movie that want's bigger attention. In 1,100 theaters it managed seventh place with $4.2 million, but hasn't gotten the kinds of reviews that catapulted Ellen Page's last movie to an over-hyped Oscar nomination. With only moderate critic backing and a lukewarm reception at the box office, the movie might as well make its way straight onward to DVD.
The movie industry took a bit of a hit in general this week and year-to-date totals slipped. It's only a half-a-percent drop, and some of the year's more anticipated movies are just on the horizon, but it's still enough to make studio execs start to worry a bit. Despite what the gross receipts say, Hollywood has been in financial trouble for the last few years and a drop in sales now would only make things worse. On the bright side, that might make them rethink the idea of Prom Night 2.
