Are You Safe? Here Comes Another 'Quarantine'

I was surprised to learn that Quarantine made over $30 million when it was in theaters last year. But yeah - $31 million and an pretty good $14 million debut, plus a few more million overseas. Maybe that's why we're getting a sequel.

Here's the weird thing: According to Bloody Disguting, the sequel may not have very much to do with the original. Quarantine was apparently suspiciously like the Spanish movie [REC], which is getting its own sequel. But Quarantine producers may be going for "a totally original pitch" for round two. Now, $31 million seems like a lot of money to you and me, but even though Quarantine did not have a five-star restaurant price, it wouldn't be considered a great prospect for a franchise by a lot of studios. However, Screen Gems hasn't had too many big successes recently. Outside of Obsessed, there's really nothing in the past few years that's been a runaway smash.

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Fearless Forecast - 'Max Payne' to Kick Little Pampered Dogs

I would be highly surprised if Max Payne didn't finish atop the weekend box office chart. Last week, I would've been mildly surprised if Beverly Hills Chihuahua repeated...so I was mildly surprised.What gives Max Payne a real edge this week is that its major new competition is a film about an unpopular President directed by a divisive filmmaker that will only pop up in two-thirds as many theaters. But even with Mark Wahlberg in the starring role and being the film with the best connection to the most active audience of opening weekend moviegoers, I don't expect Max Payne to go through the roof. As for W., the new Oliver Stone film about George W. Bush, I think positive reviews about Josh Brolin and Stone's more favorable portrayal of his subject will bring in a few potential patrons that might have been on the fence. If it were opening in 3,000 theaters instead of 2,000, the numbers would look really good. I still believe, though, that it will do very well on a per-screen basis. It's just not on enough screens to win the weekend.There are two other new releases, The Secret Life of Bees and Sex Drive, and they'll do moderately well given their expectations. To me, the most interesting head-to-head battle is between Body of Lies and Quarantine. If you'll recall, Quarantine made more than the DiCaprio-Crowe film last weekend, and it leads Body of Lies in total box office to this point. Can a low-budget horror flick really earn more than two of Hollywood's biggest names over the long haul?The Top Five: 1 - Max Payne ($21 million)
2 - W. ($13 million)
3 - Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($11.5 million)
4 - The Secret Life of Bees ($8 million)
5 - Body of Lies ($6.5 million)

Box Office - 'Chihuahua' Wins Again, 'Body of Lies' Tanks

How 'bout that Body of Lies? Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott...sounds like it's up your alley, right? You couldn't prove that looking at the box office numbers, as the new espionage thriller opened with an uninspiring $13 million, only good enough for third place, according to weekend estimates released by Box Office Mojo. Beverly Hills Chihuahua - which, it should be pointed out, does not have an overt political message - finished in first place again, taking in another $17 million, and the new horror movie Quarantine leapfrogged Body of Lies for second place. Quarantine was really the only new release to get much traction, with The Express finishing in sixth place and City of Ember debuting at number ten.Instead, it was the movies that had been in theaters at least a week that attracted crowds, with only one carryover in the top 15 losing more than half of its attendance numbers from the previous weekend.I would guess that Quarantine and Lies shared a fair percentage of the same audience, so maybe that's a contributing factor to the disappointing debut for the Leo-Crowe flick. The movie faces a huge uphill battle to turn a profit; it might make $40 million domestically against a $70 million budget. But the news is even worse for City of Ember, a $40 million fantasy that earned less than 10% of its budget back this weekend. That film is on pace for a $15 million domestic run, which will make the international receipts much more important.The Top Five:1 - Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($17.5 million)
2 - Quarantine ($14.2 million)
3 - Body of Lies ($13.1 million)
4 - Eagle Eye ($11 million)
5 - Nick and Norah ($6.5 million)

Box Office - 'Quarantine' Surprise Leader On Friday

Friday held a few surprises at the box office, with Quarantine racing to an early weekend lead, according to Box Office Mojo. We predicted a third-place weekend finish for the new horror movie, although based on its strong performance yesterday, it may finish in second place. Body of Lies has a tremendous amount of work to do if it wants to open at number one. Friday was not encouraging, with a third-place debut behind Quarantine and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The most likely scenario now has Chihuahua repeating as the top movie in the country with Quarantine and Body of Lies fighting it out for second place.The $5.3 million earned by Quarantine was nearly a million more than Chihuahua's total, but don't expect that lead to hold; the Disney flick is in 1,000 more theaters and will get family viewers, while Quarantine won't get many ticket buyers outside of its narrow young adult demo. For Body of Lies, a $4.3 million opening day is a bad sign; the film is on pace for maybe $13 or $14 million this weekend, which won't be good news for a movie with a $70 million price tag. Contrast that to the $12 million Quarantine, and the numbers begin to make more sense in a broader scope. It turns out that all the new releases not named Quarantine are off to slow starts. The Express finished outside the top five on Friday, and City of Ember didn't crack the top ten.We'll have the full results from this strange weekend at the box office on Sunday morning.

Fearless Forecast - Leo and Crowe Will Outmuscle 'Chihuahua'

You can't blame Body of Lies for being released this week, but the new Leonardo DiCaprio-Russell Crowe film may have a little trouble at the box office because of its political nature. Obviously, the economy continues to plummet; the Dow was around 13,000 in mid-May and today it fell below 9,000 for the first time in five years. That could trigger a down weekend overall at the box office, and the most visible victim of that would be a movie about the war on terror.It could happen that way, but I'm still picking it to finish in first place at the box office, though not by an extreme margin. Beverly Hills Chihuahua should have a very strong second weekend, based on its mid-week performance.The other new releases that appear headed for the top five are The Express and Quarantine, and they might be interchangeable. I don't mean in tone, certainly, but just in terms of their weekend receipts. The Express is a football movie that's frankly coming out in the exact wrong time of the year; football is the country's favorite televised sport, and if they're watching real college or pro football, why would they jump in the car and blow $20 or more on dramatized football? This movie needed to be released in mid-August.As for Quarantine, it's a horror movie that might get some curiosity viewing, but because there will be very few reviews for it, it will basically have to fend for itself. The good news is that there isn't another movie so aggressively targeting the 18 - 24 crowd this weekend. The Top Five:1 - Body of Lies ($22.5 million)
2 - Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($18.5 million)
3 - The Express ($13 million)
4 - Quarantine ($11 million)
5 - Eagle Eye ($9.5 million)