New Movies and Box Office Predictions: Nacho Libre, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Lake House

Finally, a weekend with some choices. After a couple of weekends with, shall we say, limited choices, we have four films going into wide release. I am not commenting on the quality of any said films, only that there is a quantity to choose from. I will probably end up seeing most of them. Well, enough chit chat, let's take a look at our choices.

Nacho Libre. (2006, 100 minutes, PG, comedy, trailer) I remember first reading about this some months ago, and thinking it had to be a joke, the premise just seemed too wacky. The film has become a reality, and here is the hilarious looking joining of Jack Black, Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), and Mike White (School of Rock). Black plays Ignacio, a priest who moonlights as a wrestler to raise money for an orphanage. Can't wait to see this one! "Nachoooooooooooooo.....!"

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. (2006, 80 minutes, PG, comedy, trailer) I did not think that we would be seeing a sequel to this one. I enjoyed the original, to an extent, it wasn't great, got a lot of the characters wrong, and just felt like it should have been something other than Garfield. Anyway, the fat cat is back in a version of A Tale of Two Cities, as so cleverly toyed with in the movie's subtitle. I am up in the air as to whether or not I will see it.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. (2006, 90 minutes, PG-13, action, trailer) The longer in the tooth this series gets, the fewer returning stars it has. The second lost Vin Diesel, and this one has lost Paul Walker, and whether either loss was detrimental is an arguable point. This one stars Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights), Zachary Ty Bryan (Home Improvement), and Bow Wow. The move the setting to Tokyo and looks to up the ante in terms of rodded imports, or in this case are they domestics? Anyway, I may check it out. It was directed by Justin Lin, who has been on a slide since his excellent Better Luck Tomorrow.

The Lake House. (2006, 105 minutes, PG, drama, trailer) Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock star in this romantic drama about two people living two years apart. On the surface, it looks like another take on Frequency, turns out it is a remake of the Korean film Il Mare. It looks different, and I have enjoyed the work of the two leads in the past, so I may have to give this a shot.

Also opening this week, but not near me:

• Land of the Blind
• Loverboy
• The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green
• Only Human
• Wordplay

Box Office Predictions

Four potential hits, how will the fit into the mix? Again, I say "hits" not as a statement of perceived quality, that has to be proven, this is merely potential dollars talking. How will last week's top dog, Cars, hold up? Will the third X-film continue its dropping motion? We will know in a few days. In the meantime, here is how I think it could potentially play out:

1. Cars................................................................ $35 million
2. Nacho Libre................................................... $26 million
3. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift........ $19 million
4. The Lake House............................................. $16 million
5. Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties..................... $13 million
6. The Break-Up................................................ $9 million
7. X-Men: The Last Stand................................. $6 million
8. The Omen...................................................... $4.5 million
9. The DaVinci Code.......................................... $3 million
10. Over the Hedge.............................................. $1.5 million

What are you seeing this weekend?

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