Contest: Predict the summer box office champ
This summer features a surprisingly large number of well-known franchise films competing for your entertainment dollar, despite the great recession. If I were a major studio, I might hold off on some of these, but I suppose they’re gambling that summer movie escapism is recession-proof.
The upcoming potential blockbuster releases are listed below. For each week of summer, I picked the most buzz-worthy film.
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine — May 1
- Star Trek (dir J.J. Abrams) — May 8
- Angels & Demons (The Da Vinci Code 2) — May 15
- Terminator: Salvation — May 22
- Up (Pixar) — May 29
- Land of the Lost (Will Ferrell) — June 5
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (Denzel Washington) — June 12
- Year One (Jack Black, dir Harold Ramis) — June 19
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen — June 26
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs — July 3
- Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen) — July 10
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — July 17
- G-Force (Disney guinea pig flick) — July 24
- Funny People (Seth Rogen, dir Judd Apatow) — July 31
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra — August 7
- Final Destination 4: Death Trip 3D — August 14
- Inglorious Basterds (dir Quentin Tarantino) — August 21
- H2: Halloween 2 (dir Rob Zombie) — August 28
(Certainly I’m leaving off a lot of films that are coming out this summer. And some, such as the new Woody Allen film Whatever Works, June 19, will probably do better than some of the 18 I’ve listed. But to keep things simple, let’s just consider these 18.)
Now, your tasks:
- Predict which of the above 18 films will have the biggest box office opening weekend in the U.S. as determined by The Numbers.
- Predict which of the above 18 films will have the biggest worldwide box office take as of Labor Day, as determined by The Numbers.
- Predict which of the above 18 films will have the highest Rotten Tomatoes score.
Bonus question: In a fight between the protagonists of the above 18 films, who would win?
To enter, just leave a comment here or in FriendFeed.
Update 4/25: Prize is two movie ticket passes to the AMC chain. Deadline to enter is April 30th.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
1. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Inglorious Basterds
Bouns: Brüno
My Bonus – Biggest Flop: Final Destination 4: Death Trip 3D
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
3.
Final Destination 4Star TrekBonus: Optimus Prime! Either that or Harry Potter. But being able to use magic really makes it unfair.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
1. harry potter
2. harry potter
3. X men orgins: Wolverine
Bonus: Wolverine, as he ni indestructable. Adamantium should be strong enough and sharp enough to penetrate Optimus Prime. Everyone else has no chance compared to those two.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Can Captain Kirk use the Enterprise in the fight?
If so, what would happen if he transported Wolverine into Optimus Prime’s head?
Of course, he would have to incorporate the back roll flip first.
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:45 pm
It’s more like The DaVinci Code -1 or zero. Well, the book was anyway. (And I liked it better.)
Not sure you can bet against Pixar and Land of the Lost will suck (flop).
1. Terminator [EDIT by Stephen: Dave's comment below updates this to Transformers instead]
2. Up
3. Up
April 24th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Rob — Kirk gets to use a phaser, but not the Enterprise itself. Similarly, Harry Potter can have his wand, but not all of Hogwarts at his disposal.
I am liking the answers so far, but bear in mind that the protagonist of FD4 is death itself. I think it will be very hard for Wolverine or Kirk or Bruno to beat that. Scratch that, I hereby decree that death itself is the antagonist, not the protagonist. So all players still in play, no bets final, spin the wheel, carry on.
April 26th, 2009 at 12:45 am
hmmm kirk with phaser…what would that do to worlverine set to kill? In the old star trek epeisodes, somehow it always came down to hand to hand combat, and wolvierine would win easily.
As for harry potter, the wizards get in fights all the time and rarely does one kill another easily. Wolverine will shred the boy if he doesn’t have an instant kill spell at his disposal.
I’m sticking to my prediction.
April 27th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
1. Harry Potter
2. Harry Potter
3. X-Men
Bonus: Wolverine
April 29th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I’m rethinking my answer for #1. Transformers was a horrible movie, yet did VERY VERY well. So the sequel will have the biggest opening weekend this summer. Terminator is too dark and will skew somewhat older I’m guessing.
April 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
1. Star Trek
2. Harry Potter
3. Up
April 30th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
OK, my answers: 1) Terminator: Salvation (long memorial day weekend); 2) Harry Potter; 3) Up (guess); bonus: Transformers probably destroy all others (Terminators, Wolverine, Spock).
April 30th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I hate to say this, because I’m rooting for Wolverine and Optimus Prime, but I think Harry’ll take all three. He’s just so popular with so many people. Plus, you factor in the kids and it’s no contest. Maybe – hopefully – I’m wrong.
As for the winner of a battle royale, I’ll have to go with Wolverine (Although it would be fun to watch Seth Rogan fight Bruno).
Go Spidey 4 in 2010!!!!
April 30th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
1. Terminator: Salvation
2. Harry Potter
3. Up
Bonus – Wolverine
April 30th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Since I haven’t really read the questions thoroughly.. I put all of my answers as “Land of the Lost”… just for participation’s sake.
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
A year or so I was wondering where the Land of the Lost and Johnny Qwest films were. After seeing a Land of the Lost preview, I just don’t care anymore – bury it. And keep that stupid guy out of theaters.
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
1 – star trek
2 – harry potter (taking UK into account)
3 – inglorious basterds
Bonus-harry potter !
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Looks like May is awesome, and then I can sleep for the rest of the Summer, with one excursion to see Harry Potter.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I have to think about this one before I respond. I’ll be getting back to you!
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April 22nd, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Kevin, you’re not interested in the new Tarantino flick?
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April 22nd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Rachel, no problem. Deadline is 4/30, the night before the first one opens.
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April 25th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Updated the post with the prize for this contest: Two free movie tickets to the AMC chain (courtesy of my frequent eater waiter.com points). Deadline is 11:59:59 pm PDT on 4/30 (1 second before May starts). Enter today!
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April 25th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Updated the post with the prize for this contest: Two free movie tickets to the AMC chain (courtesy of my frequent eater waiter.com points). Deadline is 11:59:59 PDT on 4/30. Enter today!
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April 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
No one wants free movie tickets?
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April 26th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
People always wait until the last minute. For instance I’m procrastinating work by typing this post.
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
3 days until contest is closed.
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
How do I change my answer?
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Just tell me, I’ll edit stuff.
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April 28th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
2 more days to enter!
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April 29th, 2009 at 11:46 am
One more day to enter! Free movie ticket prize! Takes but a few seconds!
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April 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Please change my answer to question 3 from FD4 to Star Trek!
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April 29th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Georgia, that’s now updated!
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April 30th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Today is the last day to enter! You have until midnight Pacific. Enter enter enter!
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April 30th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I’m voting 1. Harry potter 2. Star trek 3. Star trek bonus: wolverine
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April 30th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
so the bonus question has led to some interesting discussion for keV and I. I’m very torn between harry potter and wolverine. James t. Kirk has a chance. But what I really want to know is how you plan to judge this one?
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April 30th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Good question — here’s how it works. First, I will determine the correct answer to each of the three questions (which can’t be done until Labor Day). Whoever has the most correct answers is the winner. In the event of a tie, most creative bonus question answer wins.
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April 30th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I’m a little bummed more people haven’t entered. Free contest, summer movies, possibly win some free movie tickets, what’s the holdup?
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April 30th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
OK, my answers: 1) Terminator: Salvation (long memorial day weekend); 2) Harry Potter; 3) Up (guess); bonus: Transformers probably destroy all others (Terminators, Wolverine, Spock).
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April 30th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
What if there is a tie? Battle to the death?
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April 30th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
glad I asked. I need to elaborate on my bonus answer then but it will need to wait till I’m off my iPhone.
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April 30th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Okay Stephen, for my bonus answer I am still sticking with Wolverine, because while Harry Potter is Scrappy, Wolverine is scrappier! I had narrowed the list down to four protagonists (though I don’t know all of them from every movie). My list was Wolverine, Harry Potter, James T. Kirk and G.I. Joe. I elminated everyone else because – in the horror flicks the protagonist is usually too close to death way too often and it often just comes down to chance that they win. I eliminated Optimus Prime because his morals would get in the way of him fighting the good guys anyway. And while I considered the old man in UP because he has spunk, he just couldn’t cut it. Once I had my final 4, I chatted with Kevin who pointed out that GIJoe never really wins, he just keeps on going and occasionally learns something to add to his knowledge arsenal, so he was out. Next I had to remove James T. Kirk. This was hard because while can kick some butt in a cage match, he usually needs his crew to help him eliminate the bad guys lackeys before he…
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April 30th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Very nicely reasoned, Rachel! Just one more hour to enter… FREE MOVIE TICKET CONTEST! Hop on over to http://www.zeigen.com/blog/
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