Filed at 7:06 a.m. ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Looking for some holiday spirit to escape the
economic gloom? Never fear, Hollywood is here.
This weekend marks the formal kick-off to the annual U.S. holiday season
during which the major movie studios release many of their best films that will
either lure huge audiences to theaters or gain traction in the race to
February's Oscars.
Wednesday's debut of films such as relationship comedy "Four Christmases,"
action-packed "Transporter 3" and epic romance "Australia," as well as Oscar
hopeful "Milk," provide the spark for six more weeks of red hot moviegoing that
will account for nearly 20 percent of annual ticket sales.
"The thing about holiday movies, as usual, is that there really does seem to
be something for everybody," said Dave Karger, movie writer for Entertainment
Weekly magazine.
Already, the box office is on a roll with the latest James Bond flick
"Quantum of Solace" and teenage vampire romance "Twilight" beating expectations
two weekends in a row. Each took in about $70 million their respective opening
weekends.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office watcher Media by Numbers, noted
that only one weekend in the past two months has seen ticket sales dip from the
same time last year.
"Momentum is with us, and momentum is key because the more people are in
theaters, the more they see (promotion) trailers and marketing materials. It's a
snowball effect," he said.
Overall U.S. and Canadian box office receipts are up only slightly at $8.34
billion this year compared to $8.32 billion at the same point one year ago.
Attendance is down 4.2 percent, according to Media by Numbers.
But if the rule holds true that escapist movies do well in tough times, the
gloomy economy could bring glad tidings for Nicole
Kidman, Hugh
Jackman, Keanu
Reeves, Will
Smith, Jim
Carrey and many others.
ESCAPIST FLICKS AND OSCAR BAIT
After Jackman and Kidman finish romancing each other in epic "Australia," or
Reese
Witherspoon and Vince
Vaughn have had their fill of family issues in comedy "Four Christmases,"
along comes action-packed "Punisher: War Zone" on December 5.
The weekend of December 12 sees Reeves bring out "The Day the Earth Stood
Still," a remake of 1951's classic sci-fi adventure about an alien whose
presence on Earth causes a global stir. Also that weekend comes family comedy,
"Nothing Like the Holidays" starring Debra
Messing.
One week later, Will Smith brings audiences the drama "Seven Pounds" about an
IRS agent with the ability to change the lives of seven strangers. Jim Carrey
seeks laughter in comedy "Yes Man," which tells of a man who just can't say
"no," and for families there is animated "The Tale of Despereaux."
The big movie onslaught continues December 25 with Jennifer
Aniston and Owen
Wilson in a comedy about a dog, "Marley and Me," and family adventure,
"Bedtime Stories," which has Adam
Sandler as a man who tells wild tales that start to come true.
Frank Miller's "The Spirit," also debuts on Christmas Day and is based on the
comic books by Will Eisner about a rookie cop who returns from the dead to fight
crime.
Throughout all those weeks, the movie studios will sprinkle theaters with
Oscar contenders starting with "Milk," which has Sean
Penn in a strong performance as San Francisco gay activist Harvey
Milk fighting for civil rights in the 1970s.
"There's not much light funny stuff among the Oscar movies. Thank goodness
for 'Slumdog Millionaire'," said Karger, about the currently playing romance
that has been tipped for awards.
Then again, Oscar watchers like dark dramas, and among the best this year may
be "Frost/Nixon" which looks behind the scenes at the classic interviews of
disgraced U.S. president Richard
Nixon by British TV personality David Frost.
Tom
Cruise brings out World War II drama "Valkyrie," about a Nazi officer who
tries to kill Hitler,
and Brad
Pitt and Cate
Blanchett turn in strong work for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,"
which tells of a man who ages backward.
Finally, there is Mickey
Rourke making a comeback in festival favorite "The Wrestler"; "Titanic"
stars Kate
Winslet and Leonardo
DiCaprio reuniting in "Revolutionary Road"; Oscar favorite Clint
Eastwood with "Gran Torino," and Academy Award winners Meryl
Streep and Philip
Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt."
(Editing by Belinda
Goldsmith)