"Hitcher" seeks a ride at box office

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-01-19 16:32

LOS ANGELES - Although Hollywood didn't connect with horror fans last weekend with the croc-thriller "Primeval," it is trying again with a remake of the 1986 horror "The Hitcher."

With awards season in full swing, the studios won't launch any other new wide releases this weekend. Instead, they will expand a number of holdovers, hoping to build some buzz ahead of Tuesday's Oscar nominations announcement.

The R-rated "Hitcher" stars Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton as a college couple driving cross-country who become prey for a dangerous hitchhiker ( Sean Bean). It was directed by David Meyers for Rogue Pictures, the genre arm of Focus Features.

While it was produced by "Pearl Harbor" director Michael Bay, who breathed new life into the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise, "Hitcher" doesn't have nearly the same cult appeal. It is expected to gross in the midteen-millions.

Whether "Hitcher" captures the top spot depends on how well Sony Pictures' "Stomp the Yard" holds in its second weekend. The urban dance-off film was No. 1 last weekend, grossing $21.8 million over the Friday-Sunday portion of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday frame, but if it falls by 50%, it could open the door for "Hitcher" to ride into the top spot.

Meanwhile, the multiplexes will be dominated by award-winning holdovers. Paramount Pictures expanded "Dreamgirls" last weekend with the hopes it would win a Golden Globe for best motion picture comedy or musical, which it did. The calculation was that the film needed to be in as many theaters as possible, attracting the attention of more moviegoers, before the winners were announced. That way, should the film win -- "Dreamgirls" took home three trophies, including supporting actor nods for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy -- it could pop this frame. The weekend results will be a test of that strategy.

In contrast, Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth," which has grossed $4.8 million in limited release, expands to 609 theaters today as it builds on strong word-of-mouth and an astounding per-screen average. The Spanish-language fantasy film from Guillermo del Toro already has crossed over from the art house community to the sci-fi/ fantasy audience, and this weekend could add significant dollars to its coffers.

Buoyed by Forest Whitaker's Golden Globe win for best dramatic actor, Fox Searchlight is re-expanding its Idi Amin biopic "The Last King of Scotland" to 495 theaters. The film has grossed just $3.7 million to date.

Warner Bros. Pictures also hopes for the love of the Golden Globes to pay off with its expansion of "Letters From Iwo Jima." Clint Eastwood took the trophy for best foreign-language film.