Fearless Forecast - Nothing Will Stop '2012'

Like it or not, director Roland Emmerich makes big-ass movies people generally want to see. Even Godzilla made big money. But he's coming off probably his most disappointing film, 10,000 B.C., but it was modestly budgeted as these things go (around $100 million). Still, that flick got horrible reviews and turned a profit. That shouldn't be a problem with the explosive end-of-the-world picture, 2012. Yeah, it's got one of those production costs you can't believe studios still get behind (rumored to be around $200 million), but it should do half that much in the US alone, and Columbia/Sony has exploited the global stage before this year with Angels & Demons. The Dan Brown adaptation didn't light it up in America, but in international territories it took in almost 300% of its domestic gross. Expect similar results here. There's no true competition to steal its audience away, and it's a movie about death and destruction. I'll split the difference between his last two openings - 10,000 B.C. and The Day After Tomorrow - and put this one in the high $40 millions or low $50 millions for the weekend. Its two-and-a-half-hour length won't help, but it should run away with the weekend. Others will pop up where you might expect them, with the exception of Precious, the prohibitive multiple Oscar nominee that last weekend put up a stupendous $100K-plus per-screen average, which just doesn't happen. It's expanding into almost 200 theaters this weekend and looks to become the second limited release film in a month to crack the top five. It might just get there. The Top Five:
1 - 2012 ($47 million)
2 - A Christmas Carol ($18.5 million)
3 - This is It ($7 million)
4 - The Men Who Stare at Goats ($6.5 million)
5 - Precious ($5 million)