April 2005 Forecast
By Marty Doskins
As usual, there’s a big variety in this month’s releases. Long awaited movies, remakes, sequels, sports, romance, and even martial arts. Whew! This is quite a build-up for the 2005 summer season.
And now, on to my Top 10 for April.
1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams fans have been waiting for this movie to come to the big screen for a loooooonnnngggg time. The British TV series was nice, but there’s a lot of cool special effects technology available now. The public’s been teased about this for quite a while also. Hasn’t the teaser been out for a year? Well, the time has finally come and we should see the ad dollars flowing for this one as the end of the month nears.
2. The Amityville Horror
This remake of the classic horror film should open very well. Current horror fans will flock to the theaters as well as those that saw the original. Remakes of classic horror or science fiction films take advantage of current technologies that weren’t available those many years ago. This also appeals to mainstream audiences to get them drawn in. We also have Ryan Reynolds taking another step up in his star power. We should see more of him in the coming years. Look for big numbers from this movie.
3. Sin City
I’m not sure what to think about this one. While this is a comic book-based movie, it’s not from the superhero genre. Since it’s not an easily recognizable title outside of comic book circles, I don’t think the general public will recognize it this way. The commercials really haven’t given much of a clue about the movie other than the general “feel”. I think there’s been enough word of mouth and advertising that it should do well, but I could see this dropping a ways down the list.
4. Fever Pitch
We haven’t had a good baseball movie out in a while. Hopefully, this will actually be a *good* baseball movie. With Jimmy Fallon in the starring role, I have my doubts. But I think that with the Boston Red Sox finally winning the World Series again and the upcoming baseball season, I think there will be a renewed interest in this film. There has been an all-out ad blitz lately, so I think that will help also.
5. Sahara
Penelope Cruz, fresh off her breakup with Tom Cruise, has apparently taken up with her co-star from this movie, Matthew McConaughey. They’ve been working this new relationship into interviews that they have been doing during their cross-country tour promoting this movie. I think this unique approach, rather than the typical press interviews, may be an advantage, but I’m not sure how much of an impact it will have. Action films always seem to open fairly well, so that will help anyway. But I see this film being a bit on the cheesy side so I don’t think it will have too much staying power.
6. XXX: State of the Union
Again, no Vin Diesel. But does that matter for this franchise? I think this one will definitely foretell the future. I see this one opening fairly well because of the XXX name, but it’s going to drop pretty fast. I’m guessing that this will probably be the last theatrical release we see in this series – maybe direct-to-video is in the future.
7. The Interpreter
This one sounds like a real interesting plot – being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus it’s got the backing of stars Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. The only problem I see is that there hasn’t been enough push from the studio as far as advertising. Even with big star names attached, if the studio doesn’t push it at all, the public’s not going to turn out.
8. A Lot Like Love
Two Ashton Kutcher films within a month? That should be too much Ashton for the box office to bear. Guess Who opened as the number one film, but I think this one won’t be as lucky. But then again, maybe my personal dislike for Mr. Kutcher is clouding my vision. I should know after the opening numbers come out.
9. King’s Ransom
Keeping your name in the public’s mind by having legal problems isn’t the way to go. I think Anthony Anderson’s troubles are going to keep New Line from backing this one too strong. That should bring the figures down for this one.
10. Kung Fu Hustle
Stephen Chow is slowly getting his name out to the general North American viewing public. His unique style of film is becoming more recognized and welcomed. This film has the backing of Sony Pictures Classics, so there is some confidence coming from the studio. We should see Chow’s film getting wider releases in the future and maybe moving up in the monthly Top 10.
Kim Hollis's April Forecast
David Mumpower's April Forecast
John Seal's April Forecast
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