Posted by Trent Reno at ool-18bb8bd3.dyn.optonline.net on July 25, 2003 at 09:20:55:
Greg at Yahoo brings up an interesting point, and a manuever SONY may be doing in preparations for this film to bomb:
"And now, after long scheduling it for the Wednesday before American Wedding, Sony has decided to challenge that likely blockbuster head on by opening on the same day. Here's my extremely cynical hunch. If Sony's estimated numbers are echoing the perception in the press that the movie will probably bomb, they probably rethought the "5 day weekend" idea. If the movie bombs on a Wednesday and Thursday, there's no fall guy. But... if they open it two days later against their intimidating competition, they can say they just whomped by a very popular franchise. Even if that it isn't what they're thinking, just generally, Wednesday is not a good day to open a weak film on. The reason most movies open on Fridays is that it's the perfect day. Anyway, I should finish this little overview by saying that I haven't seen the film yet, and it *could* do much better, both critically and at the box office, than expectations. Or not."