The Projectionist: Robert DeNiro Tries To Erase The Past
A funny thing happened while we're away at Sundance...studios continued to release movies and theaters kept showing them. Sort of. We were under the impression the rest of the world stopped while Hollywood freezes its ass off in Park City.
1. Hide and Seek—$18 million
Dakota Fanning (still not in rehab, we think) does the Haley Joel Osment, creepy moppet thing, while Robert DeNiro does the "I'm trying to make you all forget that I'm the same guy from Raging Bull and Taxi Driver by taking any role with enough zeros in my paycheck" thing. Still, enough people will show up to allow the marketing people to splash "The Number One Movie In America!" across their ad campaign next week.
2. Million Dollar Baby—$14 million
A basketful of Oscar nominations and 1,800 more screens should mean a decent take, but by now hasn't all the talk about Hilary Swank's performance ruined the movie's big surprise? You'd think now that people know that Swank's character has a penis and starts an affair with Clint Eastwood's trainer might ruin some of the film's surprises.
3. Are We There Yet?—$11 million
OK, so Ice Cube's failure to grab a Best Actor nomination wasn't technically a snub, since the movie wasn't released in 2004. But it is sad, really, that Oscar voters didn't look at the spirit of the law and give him the recognition he deserves.
4. Sideways—$8 million
Maybe we're being overly optimistic. OK, we're definitely being overly optimistic. We just don't have the heart to put Coach Carter here.
Due to a Very Special Movie's release this weekend, we're bumping the likely number 5 in favor of another projection:
(NA) Alone in the Dark—$11, single ticket at Universal Citywalk Cinemas
Tara Reid wearing glasses and seriously scribbling things on a clipboard! Tara Reid as a genius anthropologist! And dare we dream: Tara Reid in a labcoat? We are so there, and we're going alone.