We are about to embark on a very important weekend for box office results. The task is almost certainly an uphill battle deemed impossible to pull off, but we will witness it anyways as the wheels must keep turning in Hollywood as time continues to count down to more big budget offerings in November and December. The mission? To salvage September and to follow-up the industry’s worst week since the 9/11 terrorist attacks with some moderate growth in movie ticket sales.
On paper, things look destined to succeed as theatergoers will be treated to two new arrivals with some definite cachet: Resident Evil: Retribution and Finding Nemo 3D. Each respective film has a unique audience and loyal followings, so it would appear that the industry is about to rebound a tad on the heels of familiar franchises which might be important considering these are the months when holiday movie hype first begins to proliferate.
Resident Evil: Retribution is the fifth installment of Sony’s Milla Jovovich-led series which seems to get bigger with every offering. Last time out, the franchise nailed its biggest opening yet with over $26 million–something that could easily be repeated if another mediocre-quality offering from Paul W.S. Anderson is accepted by fans of the property. Even though such an opening would mean that Retribution is the best performing actioner since The Expendables 2 debut in the middle of last month, this might not be enough for the crown on top of the weekend rankings.
Finding Nemo 3D looks to lay down some numbers equivalent to what The Lion King 3D did last year. While the movie is a whole lot fresher, such re-releases have been surprisingly stable. Seeing how the cat is out of the bag on such efforts and audiences are less wooed by their novelty, we should not expect another $30.2 million premiere but then again there is a whole lot of love for Nemo that might even surpass that of The Lion King. This dynamic could easily bridge the gap, and that is why some analysts are projecting $30 million once again for an animated re-release out of the Mouse House.