New Movies and Box Office Predictions: Knight & Day, Grown Ups

This week's wide releases -
Knight & Day
Grown Ups

Now last weekend felt more like a summer weekend. It was headlined by a highly anticipated family-oriented movie that delivered the goods. It is a movie that came out firing on all cylinders and is likely to continue doing so. As for this week, we are back to movies that have the potential for strong box office numbers but it is really hard to tell based on what we have seen this far. I have a feeling that neither will reach what Toy Story 3 did last week, they are likely going to miss what the Pixar film does this week.

Knight & Day. (2010, 130 minutes, PG-13, action) A few weeks ago we got a movie called Killers, it starred Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl where one was a secret agent and the other his unsuspecting wife. The trailers for that film and this one were awfully similar, almost like it was planned to have two romantic comedy/action type films, one with the young stars and the other with the more established stars. I am sure there is no true connection, but it was funny seeing those trailers paired up. This one has Cameron Diaz having a chance meeting with a mysterious man on a plane, the man is Tom Cruise and he is a super spy. The two end up on the run where comedy and action abound. I am not expecting much, but it does look like fun. What helps give hope is that James Mangold directed it and he has made some good films like 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, and Identity.



Grown Ups. (2010, 102 minutes, PG-13, comedy) I cannot even joke about having confidence this will be a good movie. However, I am not saying I expect this to be bad. As a matter of fact, I completely expect this to be pretty funny, along with pretty forgettable. It centers on the reunion of five friends who were on  championship youth basketball team. They are getting together for the first time in years and they have their wives and kids in tow. Comedy driven by immaturity is sure to follow. The cast includes Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and Maya Rudolph. Denis Dugan (You Don't Mess with the Zohan) directs.



Also opening this week, but not near me:

• Dogtooth
• Restrepo
• Wild Grass

Box Office Predictions 
Toy Story 3 dominated last weekend and deservedly so. I suspect that it will do the same this weekend. The two new releases should do well but I do not see them being anywhere near the level of the Pixar film. As it is, Knight & Day opened this past Wednesday and finished second, $10 million behind Toy Story 3. Still should be a good weekend, I hope.

Here is how I think it could play out:

Rank	Title	Box Office
1	Toy Story 3	$63 million
2	Grown Ups	$32 million
3	Knight & Day	$24 million
4	The Karate Kid (2010)	$16 million
5	The A-Team (2010)	$7.5 million
6	Get Him to the Greek	$4.25 million
7	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	$3.75 million
8	Shrek Forever After	$3.2 million
9	Killers	$3 million
10	Jonah Hex	$2 million

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Article first published as New Movies and Box Office Predictions: Knight & Day, Grown Ups on Blogcritics.