Overall business will be down from last year....a funny note, both movies run at 91 minutes total...
Easily expected to top the box office is sci-fi thriller Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film has been given the best reviews for a movie all year, with some calling it a masterpiece. Many believe it will be an Oscar contender, which will not only bring in mainstream audiences, but awards-season fanatics as well. If word-of-mouth truly is great (based on pre-screenings), Alfonso Cuaron's movie could very well post a very long run as well. I'm not sure about how high it will open, this seems more like the word-of-mouth type of movie. But its' hard to imagine this not earning at least $30 million on the weekend. I'm going to forecast $34 million for the frame, on its' way to potentially $115 million or more.
Runner, Runner, on the other hand, isn't tracking as strong, and hasn't gotten good reviews at all. Ben Affleck's fanbase should show up, and so should Justin Timberlake's, but I don't know if it can expand beyond that. An $11 million weekend should be in the cards here, on its' way to roughly $30 million stateside.
Also opening is the final movie for James Gandolfini, Enough Said, and the Christian drama, Grace Unplugged. Both should open in the $1.5 million range.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 should take second place with a 30% dip to $24 million, for a $63 million 10-day gross. Prisoners and Rush should round out the Top 5 with 40% dips to $6.5 million and $6 million respectively. The rest of the Top 10 consist of Baggage Claim ($5.5 million, -41%), Don Jon ($5 million, -43%), Insidious - Chapter 2 ($3.5 million, -46%), Instructions Not Included ($2.5 million, -34%) and We're The Millers ($2 million, -32%).
