In an October crowded with new releases, Universal’s Couples Retreat [CPLRT] somehow ended up as the sole wide openers this weekend. Do other studios really fear Vince Vaughn [VVAUG]? While his last film opened to $31 million, Four Christmases had help from co-star Reese Witherspoon and a holiday date. His The Break Up and The Wedding Crashers were summer releases with equal co-stars. Couples Retreat will no doubt finish in first place, but a fall date along with female co-stars of smaller wattage could crimp its potential. Vaughn reunites with his Swingers cohort Jon Favreau [JFAVR] on the PG-13 rated relationship comedy set in Bora Bora. While Swingers was known for its honest realistic characters, Couples Retreat seems to be aiming for broad comedy of the lowest common denominator to appeal to the widest audience possible. The date crowd young and old should take Couples Retreat to the tune of about $28 million from an estimated 3000 theaters.
The horror comedy Zombieland [ZMBLN] proved to be an enjoyable ride with moviegoers. With good word of mouth, Zombieland shouldn’t drop more than 50% and tally up another $13 million.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs [CWCMB] continues to cast its shadow over the box office. A decline around 30% for its fourth weekend would add another $10 million to its total gross.
The 3D double feature Toy Story/Toy Story 2 [TOY3D] looks to drop off around 40% in its second and last weekend of re-release, which would bring in about $8 million..
That’s the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): CPLRT, VVAUG, JFAVR, ZMBLN, CWCMB, TOY3D