Ice Age V. ET & Blade2

[Jedieb]

So, how does everyone think the weekend will play out?

1. ET $32.5M
2. Ice Age $31.5M
3. Blade 2 $18.5M
4. Resident Evil $8.5M
5. I don't care

[CMJ]

1. Ice Age - 30M
2. E.T. - 21.7M
3. Blade II - 20.8M

[Jedi Master Carr]

Ice Age 31
ET 24
Blade 2 22
Resident Evil 10

Lee's has a weird estamite and is too high I think on two of his estamites he has ET at 38, Ice Age at 32, Blade 2 28, I don't think 3 movies will make 30 million in March, those are just his early predicitongs but still, I just don't see it happening.

[sirdizzy]

ya know i've never seen ET

[JonathanLB]

I'll believe it when I see it. Even I'm not going to see E.T. again and I'm a critic. I don't see any reason to review the movie right now, I may see it during the week next week.

Ice Age: $32 million
Blade 2: $28 million
Resident Evil: $13 million
E.T.: $10 million
Showtime: $9 million

Resident Evil is doing very well with audiences so I don't see it dropping that badly. It's IMDB rating is high for that type of movie and I'm seeing it again tonight even, there is lots of repeat business and people my age who are getting out for spring break will see Blade 2 and/or Resident Evil, not Ice Age, not E.T.

How does anyone figure E.T. to make $30 million from 2,500 theater screens? lol, I really doubt it, but I'll wait to see the box office numbers.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Even though WE dont want to see ET.... it is a very fondly remembered film for a lot of people. I just bet the adults will be hauling kids in to watch it with them - you know, adults that were kids the first time around. $30 million is not far fetched at all.

While I hope ET tanks, I know it wont.

[JonathanLB]

Yeah I hope it tanks too because it's one of Spielberg's worst films and I'm a huge Spielberg fan. It's just a lousy, overly sentimental film. Hehe, it's not actually that bad, but it's just not that good either.

I guess the family audience may make this movie a hit again, but other than that nobody is seeing it. I don't know anyone my age who will see it. Then again, nobody my age saw Ice Age pretty much either, it was 70% family driven from what I heard of exit reports. I still think Ice Age is going to blow E.T. away pretty badly and so will Blade 2.

There is such huge anticipation for Blade 2 (I know you didn't like the first Marcus) and there was even a midnight screening here in Portland at Lloyd. The security guard I talk to at Evergreen, where I see my movies, says Blade 2 is totally kick@$$ and even better than the first one. He said it totally rocks. I know that all of my friends have been looking forward to this movie now for years, as in about 3.5 years since the last one came out.

Just because Gayish Panda doesn't like action movies doesn't mean the rest of North America will stay away from a hugely anticipated sequel. Just another bad prediction from the king of idiocy.

[JMK]

Blade 2 - 29M
Ice Age - 28M
E.T. - 21M
Resident Evil - 15M

[ReaperFett]

Ive heard nothing but praise for Blade 2, from action and story through to acting

[BUFFJEDI]

I really feel blade will rock.I do not forsee any great acting but the action should be HOT!!

I really look forward to seeing ET for the first time since 1982.I just hope I can stop myself from crying when the little booger dies.


iceage 29.8
blade.25.3
et.16.0
res.evil.12.8


BTW.Is darth 23 going to do the summer contest agian this year?I feel lucky:cool

[JMK]

Something makes me think no....:p

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I think he will do it at CC.net, have no idea if he will do it here, he hasn't posted in a while, you could PM buff if you like to see if he will do it over here or not. If not I might do something but there won't be any prizes unless somebody can think of something creative.

[CMJ]

I must diagree Jon. While I don't find it one of Steve's 2 or 3 best...it's definitely a terrific film. I'd put it in his top half(I own all his movies afterall..I should know ;) ).

[Marcus Telcontar]

Ive heard nothing but praise for Blade 2, from action and story through to acting


That's because your not looking hard enough. Rottentomatoes has some very nasty reviews.

[JonathanLB]

It may be somewhere around his top half if all of the movies of his that I have not seen totally suck, but I kind of doubt that. I would give E.T. probably 2.5 to 3 stars. Probably 3 stars to error on the side of caution, but it's not a favorite of mine...

Blade 2 is gonna rule, everyone I know is seeing it tonight because we're all going in one huge group, hehe. We always do this for the major movies.

[JonathanLB]

And it seems to be getting some great reviews even, and at worst it is getting better reviews than the first one. A few are really great, Ebert liked it, etc. Check out ShowBizData. I wonder if this is because it was extremely obvious that basically everyone in the world who saw the first movie loved it, so now the critics are like, "Hmm, well, I guess we better go easy on the second one." No, hehe, not likely but something went wrong for them to have actually liked a tight movie like Blade 2. I can't wait to see it. Sounds totally sweet.

Why would Gayish Panda (hehe) think that Resident Evil could make $17 million last weekend yet the sequel to a hugely successful first movie (primarily successful on VHS/DVD, but a big August hit) will not make more than $12 million?! How STUPID is this guy? Seriously, that is the worst prediction he has probably ever made. The other predictions were just flukes where nobody could have known the movie would open so big, but in this case he is just purely stupid.

I would bet whatever he wanted that Blade 2 opens above $15 million. What... a... stupid... idiot. I better do box office predicting on my site otherwise my visitors will have to go to his idiotic site.

...oh wait, this is the same idiot who said Resident Evil would make only $8 million on opening weekend, hahaha, man he is getting stupider by the day I swear. I cannot wait to laugh my @$$ off again Saturday morning when Blade 2 has made about as much as his entire prediction on Friday alone.

[ReaperFett]

Okay Marcus, put it another way. I havent seen any bad reviews from people who would like the film. It isnt a film for people in the 40+ age range. Most reviewers are 40+. I follow reviewers who have a chance of similarities.

And besides. as I showed before, RT is an awful way to judge films. They are either good or bad? What about those who say average? Then they just pick a quote and use it.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I agree with you there Reaper, I don't like the way RT does there grading. As far as ET, I liked it as a kid but know I don't really like it from the 80's its not where near the top 10 for which would include Empire Strikes Back, ROTJ, Raiders of the Lost Arc, Last Crusade, Back to the Future, and Ghostbusters all come to mind that I liked better from that decade. I don't know maybe the movie just doesn't appeal to me as adult.

[Marcus Telcontar]

In other words Reaperfett, you dismiss critics who disagree with what you feel they should say. You have a tendancy to do that. Well, some critics who have bad things to say to movies you like may actually have a point!

[ReaperFett]

Well, from now on I have decided to just plain ignore people who dimiss my views so offhandedly, considering I never said anything like this before. But I follow reviewers of a similar ilk.

[CMJ]

Like I said Jon..I disagree. "E.T." is a 4 star film...easily. I had planned on seeing it today...but it looks like I may wait till Monday or Tuesday.

[Super Wookiee]

My Local news station went to theatres around the area. They said that showings of E.T. were selling out or coming close to it.

[JonathanLB]

Hopefully your city is weird.

FOUR stars to E.T.? Ugg, that movie is so, uhh, corny?

"Well, some critics who have bad things to say to movies you like may actually have a point!"

Well, Reaper is just saying that he enjoys reading the views of critics who have similar tastes, why is this hard for you to understand? I don't get it. He is not trying to say that everyone who disagrees with him is an idiot, he's just saying that some critics enjoy movies like Blade, Blade 2, others simply will not like it.

Every critic has tendancies in terms of what movies they enjoy and what movies they simply cannot understand or don't like.

Blade was a really awesome movie according to just about every GUY ages 12 to 25 or so, and that would probably literally be about 98% of all guys in that bracket. Of course the girls probably don't see much in it, but my sister loves Blade. It's one of her favorite movies. Then again, my sister isn't a wussy girl either, she actually has taste, unlike most girls I know, haha. The Matrix, Blade, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, X-Men, she loves all of those movies and is not the type to go raving about chick flicks, hehe. Ironically I enjoyed Legally Blonde a lot more than she did (she didn't like it at all, I gave it 3.5 stars). So there are a few girls with taste who will appreciate Blade 2, but the rest, eh, oh well.

I don't think in general people over 40 have the potential to be "cool," therefore you can't expect them to like a cool movie like Blade or Blade 2, it's just not possible. ;)

[Jedieb]

Is The Rookie coming out this weekend? To tell you the truth, that'd be my first pick for the weekend. I've never been a real big Dennis Quaid fan, but I like a good baseball movie. The trailer I saw really got me hooked. I doubt I'll get a chance to see anything this weekend though. The wife and I are going to the theater tomorrow night. We're seeing Death of a Salesman.

[Jedi Master Carr]

It comes out next weekend along with Panic Room, the trailer looks pretty good of both films for that matter.

[JMK]

Just got back from E.T.
I at first thought that I had never seen it, but I did remember some of the scenes, but what a great movie. Corny, yes, but no more corny than Star Wars. E.T. is just terrific and I wish I had made in my N° 1 or 2 pick for weekend B.O.

[JonathanLB]

Star Wars is not corny at all, E.T. is just super hokey and corny.

It works best as only a kids movie, not a Star Wars type film that everyone can enjoy. I just do not like it that much. I used to like E.T. a fair degree -- when I was 8! But even then it wasn't like a favorite or anything. Now it just plain bugs me. It's alright, sure, but too much of the movie is just not enjoyable and seems so out of whack.

I think I'm just spoiled with the great Spielberg movies I have seen and E.T. simply doesn't compete with them.

E.T. is a box office classic, but to call it "Steven Spielberg's masterpiece" absolutely makes me want to vommit. I wish they could have left it where it belonged -- on the shelves collecting dust.

The Rookie does look really good from that trailer actually, but I hate it when there is just one little thing that annoys me about a trailer. It happens quite often, and in the case of The Rookie it was that STUPID little kid's annoying laugh that just sounds so idiotic you want to strangle him. Jeez, get a real laugh get, learn to act. I hope he's not that bad throughout the film because it really does look good other than that. I missed the sneak preview last weekend and I was bummed about that but I had already agreed months ago to go to the Blazers vs. Wizards game and the Blazers are playing great so of course that is what I wanted to see.

In the Blade 2 trailer, what bothers me is Blade's line, "Keep your friends close, and your enemy's closer." It's just such a tired cliche, but actually the film saved that line. It is presented as exactly that: an old saying used very often, so it works great in the film, it didn't bother me at all, but you do not "showcase" a line like that in a trailer because it simply makes people think, "Ugg, bad screenplay" immediately.

I don't understand what is so hard about eliminating cliches in a 100 to 130 page screenplay (this is not in reference to any specific movie, just a general statement). I mean, jesus, nothing could be easier than avoiding cliches like the one I just used in this sentence ;) But seriously, that really does destroy a good screenplay and for all of the money they pour into a movie, you'd think they could at least bother getting rid of them. Seriously. I could help even and my only fee would be getting to read all of the scripts early ;)

Panic Room also is going to be good, although the trailer looks just above average. It's about a 2.5 star trailer, but I hold out hope the movie itself will be 4 stars. David Fincher rarely lets us down and Fight Club had WITHOUT A DOUBT one of the worst trailers I have ever seen. 0 stars, absolute piece of trash, good job Fox, you ruined that movie because nobody wanted to see it. However, the movie turned out to be one of the best (top 50) I have ever seen. Just proves there are a few occassions where the trailer just does a lousy job of conveying the quality of the film (that is to say, in very rare cases, a bad trailer doesn't mean a bad film, yet a great trailer doesn't necessarily mean even a good movie, hehe).

Fincher is the man. The Game, Fight Club, Alien 3, Se7en, he's all over my best films list. I hope Panic Room is great and I know I can expect a surprise ending. It's just his trademark, as surely as John Woo puts doves in his films, Fincher puts twists in his endings.

[CMJ]

Whoah! "E.T." is not a movie everyone can enjoy? Maybe you missed it's enormous boxoffice success. While I don't think boxoffice is an accuarte indicator of quality, it IS an indicator of how a film works with the masses(obviously). No film could succeed THAT well catering to just one demographic. It is not the result of just kids seeing the film a trillion times, let me assure you of that.

I will say that my grandparents saw "E.T." back in '82 in the theatre. They both loved it(not exactly your ideal demo huh?). In fact my grandma is who convinced my folks to take my brother and I. On another note...my granparents NEVER see films in the theatre...like maybe one every few YEARS. So the fact they saw "E.T." back then says alot about how the USA, and the world for that matter, responded to it.

[Jedieb]

To say that E.T. doesn't have wide spread appeal is ludicrous. It outperformed ESB, ROTJ, and TPM (If you adjust for inflation) at the box office. Even though it fell short of ANH, it held the all time #1 spot for much longer than ANH did. As I've said before, I hated it for years because for no other reason that it took the record from ANH, but objectively speaking it's a good film and it's box office performance was phenomenal.

[JMK]

And my parents both liked it even more than I did.

[Jedieb]

When will Saturday's numbers come in?

[ReaperFett]

I dont care if ET is classic or not, I refuse to see it now they've removed the guns.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I don't like that either, I have also gotten to dislike it, have no idea, it just seems corny to me know and I have no interest in it, I think Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark were superior movies in that decade but hey that just my opinion.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Looks like Jon was closer than the rest of us, Blade 2 was #1 Friday with 11.7, Ice Age second 7.5 ET third with only 4.7 (wow) and Showtime and RE just about tied at third and 4th with 2.6 and 2.5 each. I think Ice Age might still rebound on Saturday and Sunday and make about 30 million and Blade 2 will make somewhere between 29-32 depending on the weekend numbers.

[Jedieb]

The wife and I managed to squeeze in a movie this afternoon. We saw ET and the it was only 3/4 full and playing on just one screen. Blade2 and Ice Age both had 3 screens a piece. Before JMC's numbers I would have guessed low 20's for ET. Some estimates for Blade are going to be way off. I don't think it'll have strong legs but it should easily surpass the orginal and bring in around $100M. ANH should be safe from the little alien but TPM will probably fall a spot. Nothing a 2005 or 2006 re-release couldn't handle, but it'll drop a spot for a few years.

The shot gun santization bothered me too. If you look for it you can spot the changes, but I doubt most in the audience even realized it.

[JonathanLB]

Well E.T. might still make like $15 million for the weekend, which is good IMO, some of you guys (and predictors) just had way too high of expectations or hopes. I think these types of things, re-releases, generally have pretty awful staying power, so I do not see E.T. making more than $40 million this time around, so it will be just barely above TPM, and as Jedieb said, nothing a re-release won't change, and there will be many more releases.

I do think ANH is safe, which is the main concern because TPM and E.T., they're cool with each other, they have no beef, it's just ANH and E.T. that have been going at it ;) lol

Looks like ANH may win this round too, hehe.

I told you guys Blade 2 would be huge. This is the sequel to a hugely anticipated movie, but I would guess it actually falls on Saturday to about $10.5 million. It will end the weekend with $27.5 million perhaps. I guess it could increase Saturday, but I think so many people rushed out to see it, I just do not imagine that happening. My original prediction should be very very close.

I knew E.T. wouldn't even come close to $30 million, geez, I am thinking of putting my own prediction section on my JLB Movies site because if I let this idiot at Box Office Guru have all of the fun, I know I'll be annoyed :)

I did write him an e-mail early Friday, by the way, before I left for Blade 2. I feel it is appropriate to say to someone's face what you would say anywhere else. I put it more politely, but I said I don't care if you didn't like Blade, your prediction of Blade 2 still sucks and you have no idea what you're talking about. It will make almost $12 million on Friday alone, and was I right? Of course I was! It was obvious. I don't understand what was so hard to predict here. We've been watching the box office for years, something like Blade 2 should be a total cakewalk of a prediction. It's not an out-of-left-field hit like The Blair Witch Project here, haha, it's a hugely anticipated sequel to a movie that did very well on DVD/VHS and in theaters did well too. So the prediction was just easy.

I must admit I thought Ice Age would do better, but yeah it should rise Saturday and Sunday. I said $32 million but I honestly don't think it can beat Blade 2 with that bad of a Friday. Maybe so. It will be close I am guessing. I will be $2 to 4 million off with Ice Age.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well Blade 2 was #1 with an impressive 33 million for the weekend, and Ice Age really rebounded yesterday and today and made 31 to finish a close second (man two 30 million dollar films in March) ET only made 15 so there was obviosly not as much interest as some of these experts were saying (Lee, etc), it will probably only make another 20 million or so before being pulled so it will not pass ANH:crack In other Box office news FOTR is still #11 (I think they added 200 theaters I thought they were doing a bigger release but maybe they will do that next week I don't think they have even released the trailer yet.) and is now 2.4 million away from 300 should do it at least by next weekend, beyond that will depend on what happens tonight at the Oscars.

[JonathanLB]

Wow, I was very close on both films, probably closer when Blade 2's final numbers come in ;)

So... what were Saturday's figures? ShowBizData is busted lately, that stupid site, I pay to subscribe to it monthly and it's often down, that's just idiotic. My Websites are almost never down. Like 10 hours of downtime total from November through March.

[Jinn Fizz]

I saw Ice Age today, I enjoyed it immensely and still would have had a grand time even if there had been no Clone Wars trailer before it :D. The theater was packed full of people of all ages, and the kids really seemed to be into it, either laughing hysterically or watching quietly.

What's interesting is, I've now seen three very entertaining and downright touching computer-animated movies in the last year, and traditional animated stuff seems to be so flat (no pun intended) in comparison now. Another trailer I saw before Ice Age was Dreamworks's new 2-D animated film, Spirit, and it was like :zzz :zzz :zzz :zzz :zzz .

[Jedi Master Carr]

I saw that too that movie looks really boring I think most kids probably find it boring too.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I just realized something, Resident Evil Droped a steep 63% wow, didn't QOTD drop a similar 60%. I guess most of the fans of the game went out on the first weekend.

[Champion of the Force]

Yep Resident Evil did drop a ton. The release of Blade II probably didn't help matters either.

[ReaperFett]

Yeah, two similar films suited for two similar fanbases

[JonathanLB]

The box office analysts didn't know that I was going back with my best friend to see Blade 2 tonight, so that should be $33,000,015.50. ;)

j/k

[flagg]

I agree ET is overrated. It's just a good kids film, nothing more. It doesn't have the lasting appeal of Star Wars, as shown by the box office for the special editions. Even ROTJ had a bigger opening :)

[JonathanLB]

What a pitiful re-opening for "A MASTERPIECE" and "the most popular movie ever," as the back of my E.T. VHS says. Hahahahahaha, even when E.T. beat Star Wars in box office gross that was the most idiotic thing ever to put that crap on the back. E.T. never was more popular than Star Wars. It was nothing close to the event that Star Wars was, nor has it ever inspired a fan following. It is not even on the same level as STAR TREK in popularity and the ST films have never broken $200 million, never made even close to half what E.T. made, yet the series is far more popular still.

A good kids film. Nothing more, nothing less.

[BUFFJEDI]

I know I'm late on this BUT I had to chim in and say a few things .My wife and myself went and seen ET sunday night.I really wanted to see Blade 2 BUT the wife wanted to see ET(and I dont think I could have stood being in the same room with all the trash waiting to see blade)some NASTY peoples up in ther.Any way , we went and seen ET and let me tell you I SO remember why I liked no LOVED ET as a child.YES!! it's corny and really NOT that well made(the looks of it all) But the film is so Sweet and innocent .There so is not that many fims That make you leave the theater feeling Good about life as ET does.And the scene where Elliots brother finds ET laying by the river dying,Totally broke my heart and made my eyes swell with tears(in which I wiped away before anyone saw.I hate the fact that it SUPPOSEDLY top ANH BUT it nontheless is a timeless master piece and look forward to having my kids see it one day . Of course after they watch each SW films 300 times each.