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Borat likes legs! Borat likes you!

Kim Hollis: What was remarkable about Borat was that it increased 7% on its second weekend to $28.3 million, on its way to a domestic total of $128.5 million. I think we all agree Bruno won't be the leggiest film. What are your expectations for it from now on?

Josh Spiegel: With the presumable onslaught of Harry Potter coming soon, the relatively stiff competition from The Hangover (which managed a 12% drop this weekend, an insane number), and other movies grabbing people's attention, I think that Bruno will be lucky to get $75 million in the States when all is said and done. Some people are probably disappointed with the fact that Bruno is very much like Borat, some may be too offended, and some may just not be interested. Either way, Bruno's performance is going to end up being more disappointing than some people may have thought.

Brandon Scott: I agree with Josh that that Bruno will ultimately be viewed as a bit of a disappointment in the end. It was kind of inevitable, I think. The fact that this rolled out into three times as many theaters off the bat makes this a marketedly different approach to a film push versus what Borat was. Borat put him on the map, Bruno was the follow-up and by most impressions, I think he did pretty well given the circumstances. Repeat business will be the key to how well this one holds up, which will not likely be incredibly well.

Tim Briody: Borat's increase was pretty much due to adding nearly 2,000 screens from opening weekend. It fell almost 50% the following week. Bruno is pretty much doomed and I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see a decline around 70% next weekend.

Eric Hughes: I don't feel people are as manic about Bruno as they were about Borat. When Borat opened big in 2006, audiences (including myself) who missed out the first weekend caught the wave by frame two. I kinda get the feeling that the people who wanted to see Bruno already did. I'd be shocked if this one tops $100 million domestically.





Kim Hollis: It's not touching $100 million. It's going to drop off huge next weekend and I would expect it to top out in the low $70 million range. If it had some good word-of-mouth, it would be different, but I just don't think this one appeals to the same wide range of individuals that Borat did. It also doesn't have the same timely feel as the first movie.

Max Braden: Borat was the phenomenon. Despite the good opening weekend, Bruno's going to perform like a typical summer comedy. I'd expect around $75-80 million and like Eric will be surprised if it could make it to the $100 million mark.

Beth who?

Kim Hollis: I Love You, Beth Cooper, Hayden Panettiere's attempt at being a movie star, opened to only $5 million. What went wrong here, and was there anything Fox could have done?

Josh Spiegel: The first thing Fox should have done was re-do the trailer. From all the negative reviews, it doesn't sound like even the best people could make a fully marketable trailer from the footage, but man...the previews for this movie were terrible. The movie felt like every other teenage comedy, the male lead was unfamiliar and bland...there was just nothing to do to salvage this production. If I was in a really cruel mood, I could say that Fox could have not made this movie, but...OK, so I said it.

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