Alien vs Predator vs Audiences

Two franchises were kick-started back to life over the weekend, after Fox's AvP (Alien Vs Predator, in layman's terms) opened at no. 1 at the US box office. The Paul W.S. Anderson monster-mashing flick, which brings together two of sci-fi horror's most iconic creatures to do battle in present-day Antartica, was predictably ripped a new one by critics; but that didn't stop the flick from grossing a decent $38.3 million (estimated). We say 'decent'. The opening is far higher than any of the previous Alien or Predator movies, but the ultimate gross isn't expected to outdo the $85 million of James Cameron's Aliens, from 1986. With bad word-of-mouth expected, and most of its core audience of teenage males (the movie had a PG-13 rating, a first for either an Alien or a Predator flick) having shelled out their hard-earned/stolen from granny's purse cash, it seems that AvP will fallhard next weekend. And consider this: the AvP opening is only a couple of milion ahead of the similar franchise-fusing Freddy vs Jason, which opened on the same weekend last year to $36.4 million. That's despite an onslaught of marketing and the sort of core built-in audience you can't buy. Still, Fox will be happy, as they became the first studio this year to open six consecutive movies to more than $20 million. And it looks likely that AvP2, or perhaps new individual chapters in the A and P franchises, will now happen along. Second place went to a very different kettle of fish. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, opened on Wednesday and by the end of its five-day gross had bagged an estimated $37 million ($23 million of which came during the Friday-Sunday period). So far the Disney sequel is keeping up with the pace of the original, which was a sleeper hit in 2001. Good news for Tom Cruise, Michael Mann, and Jamie Foxx. In a summer where most movies have suffered large second-weekend drop-offs, Collateral - surely also boosted by the star power of our very own Jason Statham and his one-minute cameo - dropped just 35% to $16 million for a grand two-week total of $52 million. $100 million is in reach now, but it will be a push. Still, at least Little Tommy didn't suffer the ignominy of being outgrossed by the one-star travesty that is Yu-Gi-Oh, which debuted in fourth with $9.3 million. The Japanese trading card game-based movie did... oh, who are we kidding. We're not interested in this movie one jot. Why should you be? Milestones to report this week? Nowt, pretty much. With word-of-mouth on The Village pretty sulphuric, M. Night Shyamalan's latest still hasn't hit $100 million. It's not far off it, though, sitting at an estimated $99.7 million. Still, after its $50 million opening, it has to be considered a disappointment. Coming next week, as the summer box office begins to wind down, are two films that shouldn't trouble the beancounters too much. Renny Harlin's much-maligned Exorcist: The Beginning will be hoping to bypass bad buzz to scare up a decent opening, while Without A Paddle is a comedy with Matthew Lillard. No, you read that right. Also expanding into wide release after limited run-outs thus far are Open Water, the low-key shark drama which has taken in just over $2 million (studio Lions Gate are hoping for big, Blair Witch style things), and Zach Braff's Garden State, which has so far outgrossed the much-hyped fishy thriller. By about $30,000. Still, let battle commence - Alien vs Predator vs Shark vs Bloke From Scrubs? Where do we sign?