It's got some good timing, coming just after the NBA Finals. But that's about all it really has going for it. See next month's Like Mike for a basketball movie that will actually succeed. This one has no big names in it, no actual real basketball players (again, see Like Mike) and has bounced around the release schedule one too many times. WB, hoping they can squeeze a few bucks out of it, is simply unloading it on audiences. It's pretty ironic that the team in the film is based in Charlotte. The real-life Hornets packed up and left town after this season due to low attendance. Juwanna Mann will find itself out of theaters rather quickly for the same reason.
9. Hey Arnold! The Movie
The latest NickToon to make the jump to the big screen is here mainly by default. While Hey Arnold! has shown enough strength on cable to last six years, it's just not popular enough to find much success in theaters. Paramount will try their hardest with marketing, but that won't help its chances all that much. Think more Doug's 1st Movie rather than Rugrats.
8. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
It has a scene where a bunch of chicks, including Ashley Judd, remove their clothes. Oh, and the book sold a lot of copies or something. Did I mention scantily-clad hot chicks? It's got enough recognition and star power to open decently, with legs. While there's a big gap between the previous two films on this list and the rest of them, there's a smaller gap between this film and the remainder of the June releases. The placement on this list isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Ya-Yas; it's just unfortunate.
7. Scooby-Doo
I'm going to go ahead and say it: Scooby-Doo will disappoint on two levels, quality and box office. Matthew Lillard has his Casey Kasem impersonation down. I'll give it that. But when you take Freddy Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar and a bad CGI Scooby, it doesn't add up to much anticipation in my book. Especially when the filmmakers have to rely on "Scooby-Poo" gags. Uh-oh.
6. Bad Company
It's got Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock and is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. But it's been delayed a while because of September 11th and the advertising hasn't been all that impressive. And believe it or not, you can go wrong with Hopkins and Rock in the same movie. The cast does help its chances immensely, but it's going to need strong word-of-mouth to last to the Fourth of July weekend.
5. The Bourne Identity
Two weeks after a Ben Affleck spy-thriller franchise based on a book comes a Matt Damon spy-thriller franchise based on a book. Hmm. This one has also bounced around the release schedule a few times, directly because of September 11th and indirectly, as re-shoots were more complicated because of those events. It's also a big change-of-pace for director Doug Liman, though Go did have a pretty cool car chase. It seems a bit unlikely, but the book series does have a following and Damon has actually established himself as enough of a draw that it can certainly open strong enough.
4. Mr. Deeds
Adam Sandler returns to his strength as a regular guy. It doesn't matter that none of his core audience wasn't even a thought when the original film was released. It also doesn't matter that Little Nicky flopped. His audience still loves all his other films, and they'll return in droves for this one.
3. Lilo and Stitch
Disney's latest sure is a strange one. What exactly is Stitch? Why should we care? What's with the Elvis songs? Apparently, these questions do get answered. Even if they don't, it won't matter all that much, as Disney's yearly traditionally-animated film is about as automatic as you can get when it comes to openings. How it holds up depends on how it's received. It could succeed wildly because of its quirkiness, or disappoint because it's just too freaking weird.
2. Windtalkers
The long-awaited new John Woo film has both powerful ads and powerful subject matter. It's a war movie with a different hook and it's been great for the marketing. MGM is doing the right thing with this one. Nicholas Cage - Captain Corelli's Mandolin aside - can deliver in this type of movie. This film was going to be huge in its original November release date, and it's going to be just as huge now.
1. Minority Report
Remember when this was first announced? All anyone could say was, "Spielberg and Cruise. Cool." That's still all anyone can say, even with all the trailers and ads. Quick, name someone else in the film. Exactly. But who cares? It sells itself. And from the hot trailers and hot ads, it's pretty clear that neither phoned in his work.