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Stephen King 1, Eli Roth, 0

Kim Hollis: It was a tough week for Steve Carell, but it was a great weekend for John Cusack and Stephen King. Their movie, 1408, debuted with a stellar $20.2 million, making it one of the most successful openings of Cusack's career. What is the reason for this success?

Reagen Sulewski: People realized there's more to horror than sado-masochism and blood spatter?

Kim Hollis: It's a scary movie that is intelligent and uses suspense and tension to build scares rather than just another slasher/gorno.

Joel Corcoran: A unique premise for a horror story, a recognized name behind it, and a very well done marketing campaign.

David Mumpower: I hate to cast aspersions on this one by grouping it in with what has passed for horror thus far in 2007. This isn't a pointless slasher flick starring marginally famous sexy teens. It's a cerebral thriller straight out of the mold of King's best horror adaptation, The Shining.

Kim Hollis: Usually MGM completely misses the boat when it comes to marketing. I guess they were due for a win.

Reagen Sulewski: I don't know if unique would be exactly the word I would use to describe it - it's almost archetypal horror.

Kim Hollis: It passes for unique these days, though.

David Mumpower: It's unique in that Cusack is on screen by himself as much as you will ever see an actor work alone. It borders on being a one man play for long stretches...although one could effectively argue the CGI-living room is also a character.

Joel Corcoran: And the marketing around this movie did a great job of presenting the basic storyline, but at the same time, piquing interest about what the whole film is about.

David Mumpower: While the reviews do not impact opening weekend box office, I do find it noteworthy that this is the first universally positively reviewed horror movie of the year. I also find it interesting that 1408 smoked the $14.6 million opening of Jim Carrey's The Number 23 and will at least double its final box office.

Reagen Sulewski: I wouldn't be so sure that reviews didn't help. They were unusually uniform and loud in support. I think they made people sit up and take a closer look.

Depressing films make for poorly received summer fare

Kim Hollis: There was one other relatively tame opener this weekend. Angelina Jolie's A Mighty Heart earned only $4 million with a mediocre venue average of $2,956. Even against a budget of only $16 million, this one is probably a loser, right?

Reagen Sulewski: This was a film about a seriously unpleasant event, dressed up as a Hallmark movie. I expected a little bit more, but this isn't too surprising a result.

David Mumpower: Undoubtedly, it's a loser in the short term. This is a project that was risky to take on and the goal would be to earn end-of-year awards attention in order to sustain its life on the ancillary movie revenue markets. The reviews, while solid, probably are not enough to sustain that sort of momentum.

Kim Hollis: It's not like A Mighty Heart offers the feel-good story of the summer. I think this would have been better off released in the fall, especially since I'm sure her performance will be positioned as an awards contender.





Reagen Sulewski: Jolie's probably still in good shape for awards attention. Acting awards aren't so dependent on box office, and there's a bit of value in getting out there as the first big performance of the year.

David Mumpower: Maybe she's putting all her eggs in Beowulf's basket!

Fantastic Four's box office drops precipitously. Ioan Gruffudd and Jessica Alba stare dully.

Kim Hollis: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer fell a whopping 65% to $20.1 million this weekend. With current box office of $97.6 million, are you ready to call it a disappointment?

Reagen Sulewski: That performance isn't just cratering, it's digging tunnels.

Kim Hollis: It gives me faith in mankind, at least.

David Mumpower: Indeed. I'm started to wonder if this is a franchise killer a la The Hulk. It's hard for me to imagine North American audiences saying, "Yay! Ioan Gruffudd is back!" For that matter, while Jessica Alba is all kinds of smoking hot, it's readily apparent CGI blockbusters are not her thing.

David Mumpower: It's strange to me what a great job they did in casting The Thing and Johnny Torch and how completely they failed with the main two people.

Reagen Sulewski: Wait, Jessica Alba isn't CGI?

Kim Hollis: You can tell she's not because CGI Jessica Alba would have given a better performance.

Joel Corcoran: And she would've had better hair, too, Kim.

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