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A weekend that delivered on both critical and box office fronts is being followed by a Memorial Day weekend that may have neither. Although we're led this weekend by what was once one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, promise may not turn into reality, in a strange potential echo of the film itself.

Although not really part of the films based specifically on Disneyland rides, Tomorrowland does come from the same notion of recapitalizing on Disney's own intellectual property, sharing a name and an aesthetic with a portion of the Disneyland resort. Directed by Brad Bird, it's full of optimistic retro-futurism whiz-bangery of the kind that it's not hard to see the man behind The Iron Giant and The Incredibles championing.

A variation on the “chosen one” story, it stars George Clooney as a former wunderkind inventor who has been chased into seclusion. Into his private hideaway comes a new potential inventor in the form of Britt Daniel (perhaps most famous from Under the Dome), a teen girl troublemaker who discovers an entry way into a secret world from which the film gets its title. It's a world powered by ingenuity and imagination, and it's not hard at all to see why Disney bought into the concept. Working to uncover the secrets of this strange realm, Clooney and Daniels uncover a hope to save all of mankind from eventual doom. Plus, you know, jetpacks, so woo!

With a brilliant first trailer that played heavily with the currency of mystery and wonder, it quickly jumped to the top of a lot of people's most-wanted lists, particularly considering the resumes of all the principals. However, as we've reached the release date, that anticipation has waned as “meh” review after “meh” review has rolled in. While the film's ambition and vision has been almost universally praised, the storytelling has come under scrutiny, along with its sometimes overbearing tone. Hand in hand with that has come a seeming lack of confidence on Disney's part in the ads, drifting from that earlier tone into a flatter, Rocketeer-type family adventure angle that's made the film look remarkably less special.

The PG rating might cut both ways with this film, as it allows for a wider audience but may also turn off some adult audiences who could view it as bearing the dreaded Scarlet F – a Family Film, and therefore not for them. The action movie they were promised (or so they thought) is perhaps just a pumped up Spy Kids film. Comparisons to Clooney's career films are difficult to come by, as they are in general for this film, which is something relatively unique in the marketplace, which might buy it some goodwill. I'd look for an opening weekend of $44 million, or $53 million over the long weekend.

Decidedly not competing for the same audience is Poltergeist, the remake of the 1982 horror classic by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper (but wink wink nudge nudge directed by Spielberg) that freaked out a generation for snow on the TV (kids, ask your parents). The setup is the same – a young girl standing calmly in front of a malfunctioning TV when suddenly a hand reaches out to touch her. “They're here,” she matter-of-factly states, before being abducted into nothingness. Turns out that the comfortable suburban development they live in was built on top of a burial ground, and it's positively infested with ghosts, and a particular type known as a poltergeist, angry and able to manifest people's greatest fears.

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