Fearless Forecast - 'Get Smart' to Out-Flex 'Hulk'

The top three at the box office this weekend should be an interesting race. Forget about Mike Myers' The Love Guru; it shouldn't factor into the top three. Instead, we have one new release, a week-old movie, and a two-week-old movie to deal with. The new flick is Get Smart, which, because it's opening in 1,000 more theaters than Guru, will be the weekend's top opener. Last week's movie, of course, is The Incredible Hulk, and of course, Kung Fu Panda will still be a strong finisher because of its family-friendly nature. So how will they finish? I've been tracking The Incredible Hulk all week, and it's been doing pretty well, actually. Its daily numbers are about where Panda's were the week before, if you're going by percentages of the overall total. Monday was rough for Hulk, although it was still the top grossing movie in the country on that day. But because Get Smart appears to be headed for $35 million or more by all accounts, it's extremely doubtful Hulk will repeat as number one. A couple of reasons it might: The film has received strong word-of-mouth, as evidenced by its stable first week, and those people who wanted to see what others thought about it may go this weekend. Also, doesn't $35 million seem a little high to you for Get Smart? If you'd told me $30 million, I'd say that was the extreme edge of its possibility, but I'm seeing estimates as high as $40 million...and I don't buy it. Still, I'll concede number one to Get Smart because it's new and because the Hulk's continued success isn't exactly a sure thing. Where does that leave Kung Fu Panda? Still very, very strong, which is good, because it's really entertaining. I think it has enough - even in week three - to hold Mike Myers back just enough. As for The Love Guru, it's going to get absolutely slaughtered by critics (trust me, I've seen it...and it's already being called a shoo-in for the Razzie), and I think even the remaining Mike Myers die-hards might look strongly at that guy from The Office instead. The Top Five: 1 - Get Smart ($32 million) 2 - The Incredible Hulk ($26.5 million) 3 - Kung Fu Panda ($22 million) 4 - The Love Guru ($20 million) 5 - The Happening ($10 million)