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May 12, 2008
Box Office Review: Speed Racer crashes, burns!
Emile Hirsch now regretting agent's 'can't miss' advice. | Photo courtesy of xiaming via flickr
On Friday I surmised that Speed Racer would bomb and now the events of the weekend have borne that prediction out. The live-action cartoon sputtered to a weak $20.2M weekend, just ahead of What Happens in Vegas ($20M) and well behind the summer's first true blockbuster, Iron Man ($50.5M/$177.1M). Once the actual numbers come in on Monday, many expect Speed Racer to fall to an embarrassing third.
The rest of the top 10 was filled with hold-overs: the harmless, disposable Made of Honor ($7.6/$26.2M), the funny Baby Mama ($5.7M/$40.3M), the funnier Forgetting Sarah Marshall ($3.7M/$50.7M), the below-average Harold & Kumar ($3.1M/$30.7M), the obvious The Forbidden Kingdom, ($1.9M/$48.2M) the unexpectedly strong Nim's Island ($1.3M/$44.2M) and the pseudo-tough but ultimately silly Redbelt ($1.1M/$1.2M).
The limited release crowd had a fairly mild weekend in the face of the rising summer popcorn-movie season. Tarsem Singh's long-gestating The Fall averaged a respectable $8911 per theater. Before the Rain was okay in its debut ($6537 per) while Noise didn't make much of any ($2025) in only a couple theaters.
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"On Friday I surmised that Speed Racer would bomb and now the events of the weekend have borne that prediction out."
Hell the cartoon series wasn't all that. No surprise there. I saw Iron Man this we. It's definitely on my, buy it when it comes out on dvd, list.
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I have heard mixed reviews for Iron Man. An insanely boring comic book, but the buzz generated by the sweet looking trailers is having an effect on me. I will definitely check it out as soon as the crowds die down...
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Love the corresponding picture
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I enjoyed Iron Man, mainly for the charming wit of Downey and Paltrow's flirtation; certainly not because the action or the style of the movie was anything special. Speed Racer, however, is sheer, high-octane glee, as well as the most thorough re-imagining of film language since, well, probably The Matrix. The collective shrug of whatever that seems to have been the public's reaction (as well as the critics, whoever and whatever they are) has left me scratching my head.
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How can Emile Hirsh go from Into the Wild to this heaping pile of technicolor poo.
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How can Emile Hirsh go from Into the Wild to this heaping pile of technicolor poo.
Sometimes... You just gotta pay the rent
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Speaking of language...
Hey! Maybethecriticswouldhavelikedthemoviebetterifthecharactersalltalkedliketheydidintheoriginalcartoon. Rememberwhenitseemedtheywouldtryandgetouteverythingtheyweresayinginwonebreath?
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so did anyone see captain americas shield in Iron Man in tony starks workroom? pay attention to him when hes putting the suit off and pepper walks in on him