Someone get Samuel L. Jackson a good script -- stat! Since "Kill Bill Vol. 2," Jackson has starred in one shaky film after another: the "XXX" sequel/flop "State of the Union;" the final lame "Star Wars" movie; "The Man," a dreadful buddy comedy with Eugene Levy; "Freedomland," a weak Joe Roth drama with Julianne Moore; the terrible Iraqi vets movie "Home of the Brave;" the straight to video spoof "Farce of the Penguins;" and of course the mega-hyped "Snakes On A Plane," which he had a blast promoting. Now' it's "Black Snake Moan," which looks like a fun B movie and got some okay reviews, but failed to meet even the low expectations for its opening weekend. Watchboy aka Aaron saw it in primetime on Saturday night in Washington DC and called me to say the theater was virtually empty. If Jackson can't bring in his core audience on opening weekend, the bad movies are really starting to affect his pull. The only good news he's had is in voice work, where Jackson worked on "The Incredibles" and the smart TV show "Boondocks" (which, unfortunately, seems to have slipped into a black hole). But at least the guy keeps working: Jackson has four movies in the can or filming and two more in the works, including a boxing drama called "Resurrecting The Champ" with Josh Hartnett, a horror flick with John Cusack called "1408," a promising kids' flick called "Jumper" with Hayden Christiansen and Jamie Bell, and a reteaming with Bruce Willis on a cop film. Oh and I was way off on "Zodiac," which did very poorly despite a great cast and great reviews. Word of mouth is gonna be poisonous on it, if the audience I sat with is any guide. By the way, with movies like "Breach" and "Zodiac" doing poorly, Hollywood may never make a film for adults again. Here are the weekend estimates, based on Friday numbers from Box Office Prophets.
1. Wild Hogs -- $35.9 million total
2. Zodiac -- $12.8 million
3. Ghost Rider -- $10.3 million ($93 million total)
4. Bridge To Terabithia -- $8.1 million ($57 million total)
5. The Number 23 -- $6.5 million ($24 million total)
6. Norbit -- $5.7 million ($82 million total)
7. Music and Lyrics -- $4.8 million ($38 million total)
8. Black Snake Moan -- $3.7 million total
9. Reno 911!: Miami" -- $3.6 million ($16 million)
10. Breach -- $3.2 million ($25 million)
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2 comments:
Who exactly comprises the Samuel Jackson "core audience"?
Black people. He is a major black star with a strong track record in that community and of course savvy moviegoers ever since Pulp Fiction. He was super-cool for a while, but is wearing out that image with so many weak movies.
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