For the record, I'm not a fan of when Player Affinity decides to move servers when I'm in the middle of trying to post Box Office Wizard ... pardon the late posting.
Gordon Gekko loves a sure thing. And that sure thing is Box Office Wizard. So take a tip from everyone's favorite sinister millionaire and predict which five movies will place in the top five of this weekend's U.S. domestic box office chart. I will make my own predictions here and explain them to you each week to give you some sort of reference point. It's then your job to enter a comment with your top five.
This is Week #20, but it's never too late to play. The first week you predict is the first week you enter the Box Office Wizard competition. For every correct prediction each week, you earn a point. Points are cumulative. The game keeps going on and on forever and ever except we will reset everyone back to zero -- let's say -- once a year. Each week there will be at least two winners: a weekend wizard for the users who guessed the most correct and a box office wizard for the user with the most points to date. The goal is to be Box Office Wizard for as long as you can. I'll pick an end date for the year at some point and then whoever has the most becomes the year's box office wizard. Maybe by the time that happens, Player Affinity will be so wildly popular that we'll have some cool free stuff to give the Box Office Wizard of the Year. Regardless, it's worth giving a try. What do you have to lose?
Last Week's Top Five
Week #18 Wizard(s): Joseph - 5 pts
Current Box Office Wizard: Steven C - 56 Pts
A lot of people got 3/5 this week, but Joseph of the PAM team got 'em all, which I suspect will happen more and more now that the competition is thicker.
ALL-TIME TOTALS
Steven C - 56
TheGamerGeek - 52
SimonSays - 48
Sallas - 32
Olly H - 14
Dustin C - 10
Joseph – 6
OracleofGame - 6
Dinah – 5
Dementious - 5
Kieran - 4
Max A – 4
Matthew D – 3
Julian – 2
Lydia – 2
Remember, only submissions in the comment section count and they must be made by 12:00 PM SATURDAY. Check our weekly recap posting late afternoon every Monday for the box office figures of the weekend. Remember, we count the WEEKEND ACTUALS, not the ESTIMATES announced on Sundays. On 4-day weekends, only the 3-day total matters.
Here are this week's new contenders followed by my predictions.
New Contenders this Weekend
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Directed by Zack Snyder
Written by Josh Orloff and Emil Stern, Kathryn Lasky (novels)
Starring: (voices) Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Helen Mirren
Genre: Animation/Fantasy/Adventure
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release: 3,575 theaters
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Alan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, Oliver Stone and Stanley Weiser (characters)
Starring: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin
Genre: Drama
Distributor: Fox
Release: 3,565 theaters
You Again
Directed by Andy Fickman
Written by Moe Jelline
Starring: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Betty White, Odette Yustman
Genre: Comedy
Distributor: Buena Vista
Release: 2,548 theaters
The Virginity Hit
Written and Directed by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland
Starring: Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Jacob Davich, Nicole Weaver
Genre: Comedy
Distributor: Sony/Columbia
Release: 700 theaters
My Top Five Predictions
If you look back at autumns past, some kind of family or animated film always dominates for a week if not longer. Though not by a landslide in comparison to other years, it’s safe to say Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is that film. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs did it last year for a number of weeks in September. The year before was Beverly Hills Chihuahua in early October. You can’t really argue with “Owls” and I think it should do $25-30 million in ticket sales.
In second, I think you have to slate Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Dramas of this kind tend not to do a whole lot of business, but I think the nostalgia and some young talent make the film an appealing option, maybe good for $15-20 million, my thought being closer to the top end.
Third place is what I expect to be most heated. I’m picking last week’s champ The Town to hold up a lot, which suggests it should make about $15-16 million. I think You Again, given the time of year for these types of films, ought to finish close to it, maybe $12-15 million. With the talent and broad female appeal, it could be closer to $20 million, but I’m going to let the season and recent rom-com receipts win out. The Virginity Hit has a small release, so by default (and yes, good word of mouth), that leaves Easy A to finish fifth with $9-10 million.
