1. Super 8 (Paramount, 3,379 Theaters, 112 Minutes, Rated PG-13): The one thing that you have to give J.J. Abrams credit for, he know how to use suspense to increase viewer interest. Cloverfield, which he produced, must have sold 90% of its tickets because people wanted to see exactly what tore the Statue of Liberty’s head off. And I’m just most of the people buying tickets to this one are doing so to see what exactly is attacking that small town in the trailer.
But will there be pay off for all the hype? Opinions on Cloverfield are mixed depending on who you ask. However, it might be a little different this time around as Abrams also wrote and directed this film. I liked his work on Star Trek, and this one does look intriguing. Showings have already started. As of this writing, it has a 82% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. We’ll see if it lives up to the hype.
2. Judy Moody And The NOT Bummer Summer (Relativity, 2,524 Theaters, 91 Minutes, Rated PG): It’s a time-honored strategy called counter-programming. When a hugely-hyped film is about to open, one that might sell-out quickly yet not be 100% kid-friendly, put out another, more kid-friendly film the same weekend. This way, you have something to send the sprouts too while you see the film you want to see or a family-friendly alternative if you get to the theater too late and the film you want to see is sold out.
The classic example of this is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which was released on the same day as the first of Tim Burton’s Batman films. It became a rather sizable hit for the reason listed above.
However, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids looked better than this film and Disney spent more than fifty cents promoting it. So, I doubt the
