Weekend Box Office Predictions Game: Mel Battles Avatar
January 26, 2010
The Tooth Fairy slammed the Prophet in last week's round of our weekly Weekend Box Office Predictions game. By missing The Rock's latest kids fare by over $7 million, the Prophet was beaten by the players 3-2 (view the results) fair and square. The all-time leaderboard winner WalkingDisaster fended off a slew of close competitors (view the leaderboard) and will take home a copy of Whip It on Blu-ray or DVD for the first place finish.
A string of three new opening films is cut to two for this upcoming weekend's round. Mel Gibson breaks his nearly 8-year drought in front of the camera in Edge of Darkness, while Josh Duhamel and Kristen Bell assume the role of leads in a romantic comedy with When in Rome. Holdovers include James Cameron's Avatar, The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington, and the horror/thriller Legion.
The object of this game is to guess the final domestic box office dollars in millions for these five films from Friday, January 29 through Sunday, January 31. Your prediction is averaged in with the other players for a cumulative score to compete against the Prophet predictions.
Should the average player differences between the actual box office gross and predicted grosses beat the Prophet for 3 or more of the 5 films, the top player will win a prize: Clint Eastwood's Mystic River on Blu-ray Disc. If the Prophet wins then that prize will rollover into the next round and be joined by another prize.
Once you are logged in, the average player scores will update in real time below as new predictions are entered. The entry period will close the evening of Thursday, January 28, with this round's results being published in the next round's game page on Tuesday.
| There are currently 58 players up against the Prophet The entry period for January 29- 31 has already ended. Follow the weekly results at the Weekend Box Office Prophet main page.
Edge of DarknessMel Gibson makes his first appearance in front of the camera since 2002's Signs. The years have not been kind to Mel's image, but his worn down look and ability to turn on the rage may play perfectly into this R-rated remake of the 1985 BBC TV series. Edge of Darkness will open on over 3,000 screens. All: $23.4 Me: n/a Prophet: $23.7 Actual: $17.2
When in RomeKristen Bell and Josh Duhamel each find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to carry a film rather than act as a supporting character. On the plus side for When in Rome is the utter lack of female-skewed programming at the box office this weekend. It opens on approximately 2,000 screens. All: $14.2 Me: n/a Prophet: $8.9 Actual: $12.4
AvatarAvatar wrapped up its sixth consecutive top finish weekend by adding another $34.9 million to its coffers. That is a mere 18.3% drop from its previous weekend, a remarkable feat regardless of high ticket prices for 3D showings. Look for another strong weekend a possible 7th straight first-place finish. All: $26.7 Me: n/a Prophet: $27.2 Actual: $31.3
LegionLionsgate's Legion enjoyed a strong $17.5 million opening last weekend but will see a portion of its R-rated influenced audience head over to Edge of Darkness in its second frame. There still could be some air left in this angel's wings to keep it from completely falling off the radar. All: $10.1 Me: n/a Prophet: $9.8 Actual: $7.2
The Book of EliEli's third turn in our game is likely his last as the Denzel Washington post-apocalyptic thriller comes off a $15.7 million tally last weekend. That may seem like a lot, but it is a rather steep 52% drop from its $32.8 million opening weekend. Expect another sizable drop. All: $9.1 Me: n/a Prophet: $8.6 Actual: $8.9 |
