Download a Whole Bunch of 2009 Screenplays

A very cool list of stuff from Movie Cultists, so head over there to see the entire list. How about almost 30 screenplays from the year's most heralded movies, most of which are hoping to be in the running for the Oscars. Won't work out that way, of course, because there are only ten available slots for the Academy Awards, five for original scripts and five for adapted screenplays. But there are other awards that night, of course, and you won't see a script on this master list that isn't being talked about in some category or another. This is a great thing the studios have done, though, and for free, hell, you just can't beat this deal. Again, because Movie Cultists did the legwork on all of this, I encourage you to visit them to browse the selection of a available scripts. But here are a few you might be interested in to whet your appetite. Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
The Informant!
Moon
Where the Wild Things Are

Box Office - 'Meatballs' Leads 'Surrogates' on Friday

On Thursday, as we always do, we played Nostradums with the weekend box office. Despite a lot of competition, the verdict was that Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs would probably repeat as the number one movie in the land. And after Friday night's performance, it's on its way to that title.

The animated childrens' book adaptation leads Surrogates by about half a million dollars after one day of ticket sales. Of course, there will be some fluctuation on Saturday and Sunday, but most of those possibilities play in favor of Meatballs. Matinee showings, boosted by ticket sales for three, four, or five people in a family, ought to be enough to create more space between the weekend's top two films by the end of the frame.

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Fearless Forecast - Mmmm...More 'Meatballs'

It could be a repeat performance for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by the time the tickets are counted on Monday. Earlier in the week, I kind of had my mind made up that it would be, but the weekday numbers have been discouraging. An 85% drop on Monday followed by a much closer race with The Informant! on Tuesday than you'd expect, and on while it should improve a little on Wednesday and Thursday, it may not be strong enough to pull out the victory over Surrogates.

The new Bruce Willis sci-fi flick is the only movie that really has a chance to dethrone Meatballs, though. Disney isn't blitzing the multiplexes the way it normally would in late September, but with the first two Toy Story movies back in theaters next weekend in 3-D, it should still be a good month for the House of Mouse. Beyond Surrogates, there is another new sci-fi film, Pandorum, which has very little chance of making a huge dent even though it's getting a run comparable to its competition. Supposing Friday night viewing is strong and those audience members spread the word, it has a better chance, but I'd still be surprised if we see a $20 million weekend. Then again, District 9 was one of the surprise hits of the summer using that exact formula, so it's possible if not probable.

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Box Office - Better Than a Chance for 'Meatballs'

A very strong weekend performance, one that was highlighted by bigger-than- expected Saturday and Sunday, pushed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to an easy victory at the box office. The film checked in with $30.1 million, which is about 20% more than it appeared the movie would make after its Friday debut.

The Saturday number - $13.1 million - represented a 60% climb from day one to day two. That's a good start, and should equate to about $85 - $100 million domestically over the life of its run. And when you consider that Sony is only using about 3,100 theaters, that's a healthy amount of money. There were some shake-ups in the top five, though. The Informant! jumped to second place, and even though you wouldn't look at $10.6 million as a big success, I think given he more limited release, it's a good sign for the Steven Soderbergh-Matt Damon comedy. I Can Do Bad All By Myself dropped from first place to third, and Love Happens crept into the top five with just over $8.4 million.

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Box Office - 'Jennifer's Body' Eaten Alive on Friday

The only bad news for any new release this weekend seems to be directed at Jennifer's Body, the new horror dark comedy starring Megan Fox. Estimated to make about $12 - $15 million this weekend, the movie got off to a very slow start on Friday, earning only $2.8 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Horror movies generally start fast and fade quickly. The majority of them show signs of decline beginning on day two, and if that holds true for Jennifer's Body, then this film might make about 40 - 50% of the opening weekend projections. So much for Megan Fox moving tickets on her own. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs led the Friday box office easily, which is no surprise. Based on its $8.1 million debut, Meatballs should be headed toward $25 million or so this weekend. You'd think Sony would want more from its animated film, because that's not a very competitive number when you look at similar Pixar and DreamWorks movies. But as we've seen with Ice Age this year, the US market isn't the only one cartoons can exploit, so perhaps that's the plan here, as well.

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