Started off slowly today. Who could have imagined that A Walk to Remember outgrossed Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles? Neither was worth a lot of box office money, but Walk did $16 million more domestic box office. Oh, Paul Hogan, you rode that horse one time too many.
Even yesterday’s picks were flat. HSXers agreed with Sue and showed no love to Katherine Heigl and her two IPOs. One for the Money remained flat while Blended actually dropped 10%. I dropped Blended with the crowd. The $20 million call on The Losers turned out to be nice even though it’s a call and almost no money. Traders drove the call up 26% to $2.52. You want box office intelligence? Movie geeks are digging the trailer for The Losers.
Chris Evans in 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival
I dumped out of my American Idol options, but can’t understand why Crystal Bowersox’s numbers dropped this week when she is widely considered a finalist. She may not be the presumptive winner (look where that got Adam Lambert last year), but I can’t find an Idol-watcher who thinks she will be cut before the finals. But as we said yesterday, the upside isn’t big enough to hold on to her option or Siobhan Magnus’ at $16 so they’re both gone.
In shorts, The Host is a remake by Universal of a South Korean horror flick and dropping hard. Still at $6.77 and down by nearly half in 12 months, there is plenty of time to jump 0n this one and make a little cash while shorting a film with no named director or cast. One option that started climbing (up 65 cents — that’s big stuff for an option) is yet another remake of The Man from U*N*C*L*E. The option is moving because a screenwriter has been picked. I’m sticking with my short position because I don’t think the screenwriter is any good, and this film never does well in any adaptation.
Remember when we told you this week that there would be comics fatigue? Rest assured that there are at least five comic-themed films coming in the next 18 months. But traders yesterday started giving back gains on sequels in the Iron Man, Batman and X-Men franchises.
Remake horror continues with Anna Farris attached to a remake of Private Benjamin slated for 2011. Go back and look at the Goldie Hawn-led cast for the 30 year old original. Albert Brooks, Harry Dean Stanton, Eileen Brennan (who is now 78–wow!), Mary Kay Place and a bunch of other folks, including Armand Assante who had such a big role that I have to mention his name. Do you think it’s funny that Stanton and Mary Kay Place were at the head of the Juniper Creek polygamist compound in Big Love? Yeah, me too.
Farris joins Chris Evans, Andy Samberg and Spock (sorry, Zach Quinto, but if Nimoy got typecast, we must do the same to you) in What’s Your Number? Anna apparently does the gender reverse of scrolling through a little black book for a potential spouse. I would pass except that exteriors are being shot in Boston in a few weeks according to the HSX community, who can track down any lead anywhere.
Evans will be coming off Puncture, a legal drama in the world of Big Medicine. Chris’ character complicate things with a drug problem of his own. His Fantastic Four street cred may be dwindling, but this guy is working in a dozen projects if you believe every rumor. Let’s see how he does with The Losers later this month before we anoint him, right Jeremy Piven?
Chris Evans photo by gdcgraphics via cc
Comments
suemillinocket
Comic fatigue, I agree. But, obviously, RDJ in Iron Man 2 is totally exempt. But you already knew that.