Fearless Forecast - 'Panda' Will Mess With the 'Zohan'

This weekend at the box office won't be as cut and dry as most of them have been this summer. I know a lot of people picked Indiana Jones to go two-for-two last weekend, but we called it differently, and for the first time in a long time, we were vindicated. I guess you'd say that Kung Fu Panda will be the consensus pick as the weekend's top film. It has a ton of great reviews and it's family friendly. But with a new Adam Sandler movie in theaters, he could play the spoiler. It stands to reason that both Kung Fu Panda and You Don't Mess With the Zohan will do very well; I expect there to be about a $15 million difference between them, which is significant, but it's been an unpredictable six weeks, so Zohan might do a lot better and Panda may come out soft. Then again, Sandler's new movie is being released at a time when big name comedians have clearly suffered. Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid tanked, as did Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro and the Judd Apatow-produced Drillbit Taylor. Sandler has always been coated with teflon, so he might be fine. Zohan's not the sturdiest idea for a movie, so that could mean a less than rosy weekend, too. Still, we'll side with the teflon until we start to see it chip off. As for Sex and the City, don't look for it to do nearly the business it did last week; it may not even finish in the top three. The Top Five: 1 - Kung Fu Panda ($52 million) 2 - Zohan ($37 million) 3 - Indiana Jones ($26 million) 4 - Sex and the City ($23 million) 5 - The Strangers ($10 million)