Sunday, May 18, 2008

Indiana Jones And The Relief That It Will Probably Be Fun... (plus Caspian 'underperforms')

Well, if Roger Ebert likes it, I probably will too. Alas, other responsibilities will likely prevent me from seeing it until opening night at 8pm-ish like a mere mortal. As someone who didn't particularly want a fourth Indiana Jones picture (out of fear of them making a bad film and marring a nearly perfect trilogy), it's a relief to read that it's apparently pretty good.

The surprisingly potent Prince Caspian reviews caused me to revise my initial $65 million guess to a more optimistic $85 million estimate. I should have trusted my gut. Still, anyone that tells you that a $56 million three day take is disappointing is either lying or an idiot. This one will have lots of room to grow, as it's now the second-choice to anyone who can't get into Indy 4 or has already seen it by the start of the weekend. It won't come close to Lion/Witch/Wardrobe's $293 million, but it'll do just fine. As to why the lower number, blame three probable things: the lack of the direct pitch to Christian audiences, the general lack of super-duper must-see interest in this series (very few truly loved the first film), and the fact that the advertising made it look like a dark PG-13 carnage fest that snuck in with a PG (expect the second weekend drop to be smaller than normal as worried parents discover that it IS ok for their younger tykes). As for how well Indiana Jones 4 will do for its five day weekend (Thursday-Monday), I'm honestly not sure at this point.

Scott Mendelson

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