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by Lee Tistaert
With a duo
like this, one sure hopes the script is
rock solid. The first time I heard about
the premise of this film I thought it
would be a hell of a fun flick. Then I
saw a preview for it and despite some
moviegoers claiming it was rather weak,
my faith remains up there. However, I
recently saw an updated trailer in my
screening of Collateral Damage (that I
can't seem to find online) and have to
say it was better than the first
trailer and it actually received a
positive reaction from my crowd, whereas
with the original preview both my
Majestic and Count of Monte Cristo
audiences pretty much shunned it.
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Showtime
is a basic parody of all the
buddy-buddy action/comedy films that
have opened over the years. That
includes Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour and
you name it. Those films achieved high
credits at the box office and the
long-term success of Showtime will
primarily be based upon its reviews
and its word of mouth. Now, I don't
have an exact source to back this up
but I remember hearing somewhere that
Showtime was picking up Warner
Brothers' worst test scores of all
time which was to hint at critics
panning the picture and most likely
weak legs. Showtime's ad-campaign is a
bit similar to that of Bowfinger's,
with even the Eddie Murphy element in
there as well. Both films' trailers
were/are a bit silly but fun. Showtime
has the one huge advantage of being
the first straight comedy for adults
since Shallow Hal, though the Farrelly
brothers film did cross over to
younger viewers as well. Good or bad
film, Showtime should find victory
over its debut on that aspect alone.
When Eddie
Murphy's comedy, Bowfinger opened in
1999, the film earned $18.1 million in
its debut for $6,675 per-screen in
2,706 theaters. What the picture had
that benefited its performance was
absolutely glowing reviews, which to
some box office-goers influenced
predictions in the high $20's to low
$30's. Showtime should reach a theater
count similar to Bowfinger's, as a
launch in about 2750 venues is likely
and an opening gross of roughly $18.0
million as well could be expected,
followed by very questionable legs in
the coming weeks.
Next >> E.T.
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