Fox's 'Who' hears family audiences
'Doomsday', 'Back Down' to take on Seuss
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Toplining the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell, "Horton" should have no trouble coming in No. 1. The big question is just how big it will open. Fox is looking to take full advantage of market conditions by unspooling the film in 3,954 theaters.
The weekend's other two new wide entries will largely vie for teens and younger adults.
Summit Entertainment's mixed martial arts action-drama "Never Back Down" opens in 2,729, while Universal and Rogue Pictures' sci-fi horror pic "Doomsday" opens in 1,936.
"Never Back Down" is a key test for Summit. Movie, starring Sean Faris, Djimon Hounsou and Amber Heard, is the first inhouse production released by Summit's upstart distribution division. Tracking is strong among young men.
The R-rated "Doomsday" was written and directed by British horror filmmaker Neil Marshall ("The Descent") and stars Rhona Mitra and Bob Hoskins. Story revolves around an elite team sent into Scotland, which has been walled off because of a deadly virus, for which the team is trying to find a cure.
Opening-weekend gross for genre pics "Doomsday" and "Never Back Down" isn't expected to come anywhere close to that of "Horton."
Fox has a strong track record in using the Easter frame for family toons. Studio opened both "Ice Age" and sequel "Ice Age: The Meltdown" in March to record-breaking numbers. First film grossed $46.3 million in its opening weekend, while the sequel bowed to $68 million.
"Horton," like both "Ice Age" movies, was produced by animation house Blue Sky Studios.
Fox has virtually no competition in terms of family fare over the staggered Easter holiday, which distributors say essentially runs three weeks, since various schools break on different dates. Easter falls on March 23 this year.
In fact, the next family film won't open until April 4, when Fox Walden releases the PG-rated "Nim's Island."
"Horton," rated G and the first tentpole toon of 2008, is the second pic based on a Dr. Seuss book in which Carrey has starred after Universal's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." That film took in more than $260 million domestically.
Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino directed "Horton" from an adapted screenplay by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul.
Among new specialty films debuting this weekend are Overture's drama "Sleepwalking," starring Charlize Theron, AnnaSophia Robb and Nick Stahl, and Warner Independent's suspenser "Funny Games," starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth and directed by Michael Haneke. "Sleepwalking" opens in 30 runs in select markets, while Warner Independent goes wider with 289 runs for "Funny Games." Also, Radio London Films adds one L.A. theater to the run for indie pic "Little Chenier."
On the foreign front, Fox will make a major splash with "Horton," going day-and-date with more than 4,400 prints in 20 markets, including Germany, Mexico, Russia, Scandinavia and Spain. Animated fare aimed at families has been an ongoing success story in international markets, with both "Shrek the Third" and "Ratatouille" topping $400 million. The most recent entry, "Bee Movie," took in nearly $160 million outside the U.S. -- $24 million more than the domestic cume.
Also contending for the top slot will be "10,000 BC" with expansions into France, Italy, South Korea and the U.K. Action fans gave the caveman epic decent support last weekend, with $26 million from 20 markets.
Paramount's expanding "The Spiderwick Chronicles," which has just started its international run with $6.5 million from four territories, with launches in Holland, Scandinavia, Spain and Thailand. Prospects are decent given the strong foreign showings for other recent fantasy fare such as "The Golden Compass" and "Stardust."
In its third frame after its Oscar victories, "No Country for Old Men" will move into Japan with $62.8 million overseas -- led by $13 million in the U.K. and $9.2 million in Spain. "No Country" trails 2006's best pic winner "The Departed," which raked in $155 million internationally, but has gone well ahead of 2005's "Crash," which cumed $44 million offshore.
Other launches include "The Eye" in Australia and Brazil, "Kite Runner" in South Korea, "The Other Boleyn Girl" in Australia, "Vantage Point" in Australia and Brazil and "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" in Italy.
