Hey guys! It’s that time of the week again, so let’s sit back and take a peek at what Hollywood is dangling in front of our eyes and wallets this time around. Up on the menu for this
weekend is a triple feature free-for-all between some of our big
contenders: Warner Bros., Universal, and Paramount. From one end, we
have a sequel to the 2001 hit Cats and Dogs which possess the notability of having a nine year separation between itself and its predecessor. Next is Charlie St. Cloud,
which is the newest attempt to prove Zac Efron’s capability as an
acting force despite somewhat of a reliance on his pretty-boy looks.
And finally, we have yet another comedy this year with the ever
hilarious Steve Carell at the front lines for promotion and marketing.
Will an attempt at franchise be able to defeat comedy and romance? Do
these leading man have enough box office draw, or will their films
completely fall into the dust of this financial footrace? Well, let’s
find out.\

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Budget: $85 Million

Box Office Prediction: $15 Million

As I already stated above, Cats and Dogs; The Revenge of Kitty Galore is a sequel to the 2001 family action comedy Cats and Dogs and will already suffer financially simply because of the near impassable difference between the two. Now granted, the original film
was a huge box office hit and managed to gross a sizable $200 million
during its run, but the difference between the two is simply too much
to truly count on producing revenue through earlier fans of the first
film. This sequel contains none of the original cast members, appears
to have little obvious connection with the original 2001 film, and is
just now being released after the first one came out nine years ago.
The kids who watched the first film and liked it are most likely in
high school or college now, so chances are they may not like it or even
remember it enough to bother giving this more than a passing glance.

Also affecting this film is the marketing campaign, which has been completely shoddy and underdeveloped from the very beginning. This film was announced months ago and has been an occupier on upcoming films
lists since at least last year. Despite that however, the film has
received little to no coverage within film circles outside of its
recent polarizing reviews, released no commercials or updates, and only
just recently distributed the initial trailer for the film. I don’t
know what Warner Bros. is thinking, but they should know better than to
think that a property is going to generate box office receipts just by
dropping a name alone. It needs to have coverage, expansion, and some
enlightenment on what the product actually is if we as the audience are
to be expected to buy into it.

Frankly, I don’t think this film stands much of a chance even without all that I listed above. It’s just another “cute live action animal” film just like the hundreds of others we have received in
recent years. If Marmaduke was any sign, the audience is not
interested any longer in those types of films, so Hollywood needs to
quit making them. Because of this and the film’s relative lack of
attention, I predict an opening upwards of $15 million. For a film like
this, that opening is disappointing and weak, but it is optimistic as I
can get with a film like that.

Charlie St. Cloud

Budget: $44 Million

Box Office Prediction: $9 Million

There is not too much to terribly say about Charlie St. Cloud, and frankly that is the biggest problem with the film. This latest exercise in the Zac Efron school of acting hasn’t been given any
attention outside of the poster, which serves only as a reminder of the
only selling element that this film has: Zac Efron. Now I have to give
that guy credit where credit as do however, because he has actually
done a decent job with transitioning himself from the dreamy Disney
idol to a credible actor. His appearances in Hairspray and 17 Again were fairly solid, and his role in Orson Welles and Me opposite
of Christian McKay was quite a career-high for him. Sure, he has a
fanbase dedicated to him solely based on his looks and his involvement
in the Disney vomitorium of High School Musical film after High School Musical film, but is becoming something of an acting talent within the industry and is starting to develop a fanbase solely around that.

That aside however, this film doesn’t appear to have much to offer to the box office buffet. Where as Cats and Dogs has family-friendly action and Dinner for Schmucks promises decent comedy, Charlie St. Cloud only promises a stereotypical romance that not even Nicholas Sparks could spew out of his pores. It’s nothing new, nothing we haven’t seen
before, and something that movie-goers are starting to get tired of if
box office figures are any indications. Now to be fair, this type of
film does have its audience and I am sure that those people (along with
the Zac Efron fangirls) will try to venture out and view this film.
However, I simply don’t foresee this film making anything more than
single digit numbers. It has had no advertisement, nothing to set it
apart, and relies too much on the starpower of Zac Efron to truly draw
people on that alone.

Dinner for Schmucks

Budget: $62.7 Million

Box Office Prediction: $25 Million

Right off the bat this film has some things going for it that the other two films opening this week do not, the biggest of which is star power. Now I did mention before for Charlie St. Cloud that
they were relying too heavily on the star power of Zac Efron and yet
that would bring in some (if only a little bit of) money for the
project, however here is the difference: Steve Carell. In just this
year alone with Despicable Me, Date Night, and the newest season of The Office,
Steve Carell has proven himself to be a draw for audiences within the
realm of comedy. He is a talent that people recognize as consistently
funny, consistently witty, and consistently known for appearing in
comedy that works. Just with advertising his name at the forefront, the
film has done itself a big favor and guaranteed at least a little
boosting within its box office gross. Couple that with the fact that
the director of the film did both Meet The Parents and the Austin Powers films, and this movie is covered on the resume angle with a cast-iron tush.

Also bolstering this film is the marketing, which has been quite extensive and fairly relentless over recent weeks. Granted, the film has generated this buzz only fairly recently, as the film’s trailers
did not really appear until a few months ago, and even then seemed
enveloped within the slew of summer releases that have haunted us so
far. However, the film kept itself out there over the past few weeks
and has refused to allow itself to be forgotten. It may suffer from a
lack of general plot (according to the trailer anyway) and not really
making so much sense, but it has stayed in our attention spans for at
least a little while, and that is more than can be said for the other
films being released for this weekend. Considering that and my previous
acknowledgments of the film, I predict an opening of around $25
million. It is not going to be anything spectacular, but it will be a
solid opening, particularly in comparison to the two potential train
wrecks being released alongside it.

Well that’s it for this week guys! Until next time, stay gold.