New Movies and Box Office Predictions: Saw III, Catch a Fire, Death of a President

Halloween is nearly upon us, which means it is Hollywood's last chance to get a scary movie into theaters before the big day. This weekend brings what may be, arguably, the biggest scary movie of the year, hopefully it will deliver the goods. That is the only big release of the week. There is one independent film hitting this weekend in a semi-wide release, and I hope it does well because I like the trailer.

Catch a Fire. (2006, 98 minutes, PG-13, drama, trailer) This movie looks very good, except for Tim Robbins accent. This is the true story of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke), a man with a wonderful family and a good job. Trouble starts when he is arrested on suspicion of sabotage, which results in the torture of his family. Upon release, his priorities are reoriented and he joins the resistance against apartheid. It was directed by Phillip Noyce, who was also behind Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games. The look of the film reminds me of The Constant Gardener, hopefully the quality will be similar.

Death of a President. (2006, 90 minutes, R, drama) This one is sure to stir up a hornets nest. It debuted at the Toronto film festival in a flurry of controversy, where it was picked up by Newmarket, a distributor that is no stranger to controversy as they distributed The Passion of the Christ a few years back. This film is a historical what if, postulating what would happen if President George W. Bush was assasinated. Pretty heady stuff, hopefully the film pays off.

Saw III. (2006, 107 minutes, R, horror, trailer) The series is often considered to be horror, although I find it to be more along the lines of a suspense thriller. It is the blood and the colorful bad guy that seem to throw people off. I have always had some issue with these films, just because, for a serial killer, his modus operandi seems to change from person to person. To me, that makes no sense, as the typical profile for these types of people usually have them following a similar patterm. Whatever, not really the point of these movies. All Ihope for is a relatively cohesive story and some twisted blood-letting kills. I just wonder how long they can keep this up, at least with the current bad guy, based on the revelations in part 2. It is interesting to note, Tobin Bell donated some of his blood which was used in the red ink on something like 1000 of the movie posters. Creepy.

Also opening this week, but not near me:

• 20 Centimeters
• Babel
• The Bridge
• Climates
• The Genius Club
• Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss
• Shut Up and Sing

Box Office Predictions

Is there any doubt what the top film will be? It is just a question of how big it will be. The original opened with $18.2 million, the second with $31.7 million. I have a feeling that this will open in the general vicinity of the second. Outside of that, there is not much competition. I am hoping for decent showings from last week's top three, as all of them are four star movies. Here are my thoughts on the rankings:

Rank	Title	Box Office
1	Saw III	$32 million
2	The Prestige	$9 million
3	The Departed	$7.75 million
4	Flags of Our Fathers	$6.5 million
5	Open Season	$5.25 million
6	Catch a Fire	$5 million
7	Flicka	$4.5 million
8	The Grudge 2	$4 million
9	Man of the Year	$3.5 million
10	Marie Antoinette	$3.25 million

What are you seeing this weekend?