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Too much botox?

Kim Hollis: After The Others and Moulin Rouge!, Nicole Kidman appeared to be poised to become a box office draw. What happened?

Brandon Scott: She took her career in the "serious" direction far more than a box office draw can warrant. I personally like her choices more often than not (Keith Urban notwithstanding), but I don't particularly have mainstream sensibilities, nor millions in the bank. Just kidding ladies, I do have millions in the bank. I guess I am not as serious as Nicole. She's still one of my favorite actresses though when she is "on."

Scott Lumley: I would honestly say that she still is a box office draw, despite her somewhat brutal track record. She just really hasn't found the right film that has allowed her to have the breakout moment that we're all waiting for.

Reagen Sulewski: Except at some point that becomes self-fulfilling, Scott. She's not a draw unless she gets exactly the right premise and the moon is in the exactly right position in the sky? Then she's not a draw. It's like saying I can lift a Buick, as long as Magnus ver Magnusson is helping me.

Shane Jenkins: She has such an off-putting presence. I think people legitimately don't like her, and yet she continues to get work and crank out the flops. I've read that she is the most overpaid actor working in Hollywood today (salary vs. box office), and I have no trouble believing that.





David Mumpower: I think that Kidman capitalized on all of the positive press that came from her split with Tom Cruise. The timing of that coincided with a couple of her strongest projects to date in Moulin Rouge! and The Others. Since that time frame, she has made two good decisions with Cold Mountain and The Interpreter. Otherwise, her choice of projects has been disastrous. Due to the misfortune of injury, she had to drop out of the one that would have been a hit, Panic Room. Then, she chose to do a romantic drama with a 12-year-old (hello, Mary Kay Letourneau), a remake of a beloved 1960s sitcom that had a god-awful script, and a pair of genuinely regrettable projects with Daniel Craig. I feel that women like her more than men, which means a film like Australia is at least the right idea, just the wrong selection in particular. She needs to find more roles like The Interpreter and Cold Mountain that are a good combination of awards bait with box office potential. Australia was never going to do much beyond Moulin Rouge!, and that limited its upside as a project.

Daron Aldridge: I hate to be playing the track record card again, so soon after addressing Witherspoon but I think it bears noting. That this is fairly consistent with her openings for Cold Mountain ($14.6 million), Stepford Wives ($21.4 million), The Interpreter ($22.8 million) and Bewitched ($20.1 million) with Cold Mountain still making $95 million. It's when she ventures into the popcorn fare that her box office falters, like Stepford Wives and Bewitched.

David Mumpower: Bringing up standard opening weekends is a shaky proposition for Thanksgiving releases since they are their own entity. A film released on a normal weekend should make a factor of three to four more over the length of its domestic run than it does on opening weekend. A Thanksgiving release, on the other hand, is much lower. The numbers are inflated at the start then deflated for the rest of the run. So, while this may be in the range of prior Nicole Kidman openings in general, it's indicative of a much worse overall performance than those films. Its legs are automatically truncated by its holiday release.

Marty Doskins: Another aspect to consider is the audience seeing this film. My 13-year-old daughter talked a friend into seeing it. She thought she would enjoy it (which she said she did) because she's hooked on all things Australian. She told me they were by far the youngest people in the theater. Since this film doesn't appear to be grabbing the people that spend the cash, I don't see it holding on very long.

Jamie Ruccio: I think we need to readjust our expectations regarding what a "box office draw" is. I don't think it's fair anymore to suggest that actors can open films based on the strength of their body of work for more than two or three consecutive films. Eventually, the most consistent actor movie draws fail. I think with the advent of additional, competing sources of entertainment it's that much harder for movies and those who are in them to draw people to the product. The audience is far more selective than they ever were.

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