The Projectionist: Mr. Rough Trade Flirts With Number One
We reserve the right to be so eerily accurate in our predictions that you think a sophisticated computer model is at work—or to be so wrong that you think we compute our projections in crayon on the back of a cheap hooker.
1. Collateral — $42 million
Slap a ridiculous gray fright-wig on Tom and call him a vampire, whatever—Mr. Rough Trade can open a movie. Could it be the incredible power of his burning love for women that wills his movies to the top of the box office money pile? If we truly understood, maybe we could clone his success.
2. The Village — $22 million
More twists for M. Night: Maybe Disney wants to ease The Village out of theaters, in case the author of a curiously similar children's book decides to call her lawyers.
3. The Bourne Supremacy — $18 million
We'd like to request that Matt Damon loudly adopt a particular political ideology, thereby making cheap shots at him and his high-quality action movie a little easier. Eh, we suppose we'll have whatever Project Greenlight vomits up on Bravo to kick around in a few weeks. We're patient.
4. The Manchurian Candidate — $14 million
Meryl Streep continues to deny that she modeled her evil Senator character on Hillary Clinton, but the scene where she takes off her sensible heel to smash a picture of Bill leaves a few doubts.
5. Little Black Book — $12 million
Studios like to call opening a movie like LBB against a monster like Collateral "counterprogramming." The English translation of the studio speak: "Dumping our shit when no one will notice just how bad it stinks."