March 2010 Forecast
By Michael Lynderey
March 5, 2010
8. Hot Tub Time Machine (March 26th)
Here's the annual college try for spring break at the movies: an R-rated time travel sex comedy, awash in the 1980s-nostalgia I've long predicted would develop in the 2010s. The cast mixes old reliable (John Cusack) with some recent supporting players coming into the spotlight (Clark Duke, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson). The Michael Jackson joke in the trailer kills, and there's some similarity to The Hangover, what with four male leads and all, but I dunno about the box office - just how funny is this one going to be, anyway?
Opening weekend: $13 million / Total gross: $35 million
9-10. Forest Whitaker Double-Bill: Our Family Wedding (March 12th) and Repo Men (March 19th)
There's more Forest Whitaker this March than anyone could care to shake a stick at (now, what the hell did I just say?). First, Repo Men, which looks like about an average science fiction action adventure, and one not particularly buoyed by star power (the co-star is, uh, Jude Law). On the other hand, Our Family Wedding is another one of those Guess Who movies about culture clashes and man-eating goats on the loose and so on. That one looks good-natured if awfully predictable, but I like the actors, and the premise has some box office appeal just about any time of year. As for Repo Men - after watching the seemingly dozens of futuristic sci-fi movies already released this year and seeing what's in store for humanity, let's just say I'm not much looking forward to life in any year after 2018. Repo Men doesn't exactly help improve that situation.
Our Family Wedding - opening weekend: $10 million / Total gross: $33 million
Repo Men - opening weekend: $8 million / Total gross: $18 million
11. She's Out of My League (March 12th)
Another Apatow vet gets a starring role (Jay Baruchel, this time), in yet one more romantic comedy about mismatched lovers and crude sexual references masquerading as comedy (but hey, they can't fool me). Really though, is She's Out of My League funny? It's entirely possible. I have no idea. If it is, it could get into the twenty millions - maybe the thirties. Otherwise, Sex Drive and Miss March and all the others will have some company down there somewhere.
Opening weekend: $5 million / Total gross: $13 million
12. Brooklyn's Finest (March 5th)
This one's a tale of cops and robbers traipsing around New York City and engaging in the usual unpreventable set of moral dilemmas and violent showdowns. It's helmed by veteran crime picture-maker Antoine Fuqua, re-teaming here with his Training Day star Ethan Hawke and adding in Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and Wesley Snipes (hey, Wesley Snipes is back!) for good measure. The reviews are unkind, the release is unwide (well, it's a little wide), and the similarity to Street Kings, Pride and Glory, Armored, and all the rest will likely extend to the box office. Also-ran, Brooklyn's Finest is thy name.
Opening weekend: $3 million / Total gross: $10 million
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