Pix try to overcome Labor pain
Four line up to top 'Hero'
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Bowing this weekend is MGM romancer "Wicker Park" at 2,598 locations; 20th Century Fox's thriller "Paparazzi" (2,112); Lions Gate's laffer "The Cookout" (1,303); and Focus Features' awards contender "Vanity Fair" (1,051).
Once again, this weekend there is no clear favorite to displace last week's champ, "Hero." Indeed, Miramax's martial-arts dazzler has a chance to stay at the top in its second outing. Pic will add 61 theaters to its run today, for a total of 2,092.
After opening with $18 million, "Hero" is expected to put up a four-day total in the low teens, which distrib execs expect to be enough to win this slow late-summer weekend.
Distribs of all the newcomers would be thrilled if their pics pass $10 million, though not all are likely to cross that mark.
"Vanity Fair," an adaptation of the William Makepeace Thackeray novel starring Reese Witherspoon, bowed at 1,001 of its locations Wednesday, ringing up $606,901 for the day.
Though a modest start, numbers should pick up for the weekend. Midweek box office was down significantly this week as more kids returned to school and the summer season wraps. In fact, on Monday and Tuesday, the only pic to daily post higher than $1 million was "Hero." Focus has already begun an awards push for "Vanity Fair," helmed by Mira Nair, which adds some to the stakes of this weekend's perf.
On the limited side of the biz, IDP bows South Korean war drama "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War" on 29 screens. Roadside Attractions introduces another Sundance acquisition, "Remember Me, My Love," which stars Monica Bellucci, on two screens in Gotham. Sony Pictures Classics debuts "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" on four on both coasts and Regent Releasing starts "Yes Nurse, No Nurse" on three.
Bowing on one screen each in Gotham are First Run's "Persons of Interest," Small Planet's "Rockets Redglare!" and Artistic License's "Virgin."
Fox Searchlight and Warner Independent Pictures are looking to capitalize on the holiday weekend by aggressively expanding several of their pics. Searchlight's "Napoleon Dynamite" will add 180 screens, for a total of 886; its "Garden State" is tacking on 68 to bring its run to 813.
WIP is expanding Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset," now in its 10th week of release, by 109 theaters, for a total of 197. Naomi Watts and Mark Ruffalo starrer "We Don't Live Here Anymore" will add 100 screens in its fourth week to bring its run to 190.
