Box Office Predictions (July 10-12)

So there were fireworks during the 4th of July weekend at the box office.  Well, aside from the colorful display of explosions that blanketed the night sky… in the movie world Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen squeaked by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs for its second straight weekend at #1.  It was an extremely close call… so close that the studio estimates on Sunday night tallied a tie for the top spot.  Can a new release this weekend topple over the violent robots or the clumsy cartoons?

I’m sure you’re aware of the talked-about, highly controversial film called Bruno.  Yes, that Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again.  After the surprise hit that Borat was (maybe it wasn’t too big of a shocker how well it did at the box office, but who would’ve thought it would receive an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win?), his homosexual, journalist character comes out of the closet and is ready to take the world by storm.  Although it’s an entirely different character and storyline, Bruno will act as a sequel to Borat and because of Borat’s success, don’t be surprised if Bruno passes Transformers and Ice Age this weekend.

The other wide release that comes out this weekend is the teenage romantic-comedy, I Love You Beth Cooper.  Starring Hayden Panettiere, this looks like your typical slapstick rom-com where a nerd falls in love with the hot cheerleader.  Opening in less than 2,000 theaters, I really don’t see this film being much competition but because of the lacked volume of new films, it has a chance to squeak into the Top 5.

Here are our predictions:

My Predictions:

1.  Bruno – $45 million
2.  Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $27 million
3.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $25 million
4.  Public Enemies – $15 million
5.  The Proposal – $8 million

Phil’s Predictions:

1.  Bruno – $60 million
2.  Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $20 million
3.  I Love You, Beth Cooper – $15 million
4.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $15 million
5.  The Hangover – $6 million

Sheehan’s Predictions:

1.  Bruno – $57 million
2.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $36 million
3.  Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $32 million
4.  I Love You, Beth Cooper – $20 million
5.  Public Enemies – $19 million

—

Chris was unable to submit his predictions due to a wedding in Rhode Island (not his).  Anyway, it’s unanimous that Bruno will top this weekend’s box office.  The range of our gross estimates is from $45 million – $60 million.  After that, things get quite interesting with our predictions.  Phil and Sheehan both believe that I Love You, Beth Cooper will have a major impact in the box office while I snubbed the film from the Top 5.  Surprisingly, Phil left out Public Enemies on his predictions during it’s second weekend.  And I still have The Proposal hanging on the #5 spot while Phil has The Hangover.

Check back on Monday for the box office results.