Movie Projector: 'The Roommate' and 'Sanctum' won't score on Super Bowl weekend - Los Angeles Times (original) (raw)

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Super Bowl weekend is never a big hit at the box office, but it’s likely to be particularly low-scoring this year.

Two new movies, the thriller ‘The Roommate’ and the James Cameron-produced 3-D underwater adventure ‘Sanctum,’ are expected to have weak openings this weekend.

‘The Roommate,’ which stars ‘Gossip Girl’ actress Leighton Meester, is likely to be No. 1, but unlikely to have an impressive debut. According to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys, the college-set horror film should open to between 12millionand12 million and 12millionand15 million, fueled mostly by young women.

‘Sanctum,’ meanwhile, is appealing mostly to men, and should have an even worse opening of less than $10 million.

Both movies will have to do the majority of their business Friday and Saturday, as most Americans will be more interested in the Packers, Steelers and pricey commercials on Super Bowl Sunday.

‘The Roommate’ was produced by Sony Pictures’ low-budget genre label Screen Gems at a cost of 16million.Still,itsprojectedopeningisonthelowendofatypicallaunchforthefilmunit.Ayearago,ScreenGems’thriller‘Legion’debutedto16 million. Still, its projected opening is on the low end of a typical launch for the film unit. A year ago, Screen Gems’ thriller ‘Legion’ debuted to 16million.Still,itsprojectedopeningisonthelowendofatypicallaunchforthefilmunit.Ayearago,ScreenGems’thriller‘Legion’debutedto17.5 million.

The main selling point for ‘Sanctum,’ which features an unknown Australian cast, has been Cameron. Though he only produced the movie, the ‘Avatar’ director has done interviews and even recently started a Twitter account to promote the film.

Distributor Universal Pictures and its partner Relativity Media paid $12 million for rights to distribute the movie domestically and in several foreign countries. Given the film’s underwhelming prospects in the U.S. and Canada, its backers are undoubtedly hoping it will perform better in Great Britain and Australia, where it also opens this weekend.

The recent Oscar nominations might also have an effect on ticket sales. Last weekend, several contenders including ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘True Grit’ received a significant boost from their multiple Academy Awards nods. Interest in Hollywood’s most watched awards race -- only three weeks away -- could again bolster the box-office receipts of several nominated films.

Natalie Portman already has two movies in release, Oscar-nominated ‘Black Swan’ and the romantic comedy ‘No Strings Attached,’ and fans will have yet another opportunity to see her this weekend. ‘The Other Woman,’ a poorly reviewed drama that has been on video-on-demand since Jan. 1, opens in limited release.

-- Ben Fritz and Amy Kaufman

Top photo: Leighton Meester in ‘The Roommate.’ Credit: Jaimie Trueblood / Sony Screen Gems. Bottom photo: Rhys Wakefield, left, and Richard Roxburgh in ‘Sanctum.’ Credit: Jasin Boland / Universal Pictures.

Amy Kaufman is a columnist at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes the A-1 column “For Real With Amy Kaufman.” The series examines the lives of icons, underdogs and rising stars to find out who the people are shaping our culture — for real. Since joining The Times in 2009, she has profiled hundreds of influential figures including Stevie Nicks, Nick Cannon, Drew Barrymore and Lady Gaga. She is also an investigative reporter and was part of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist team that covered the tragic shooting on the “Rust” film set. Her work often shines a light on the darker side of the entertainment business, and she has uncovered misconduct allegations against Randall Emmett and Russell Simmons. In 2018, her book “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure” became a New York Times bestseller.