Universal Pictures is gunning for No. 1 at the box office this weekend with the high-octane thriller "Death Race." Focus Features, the studio's specialty arm, just hopes to rev up some buzz for "Hamlet 2," its irreverent comedy opening in limited release.
Produced for $45 million, the R-rated "Death Race" is a loose remake -- "re-imagining" is the term Hollywood types favor -- of the violent, futuristic 1975 B movie "Death Race 2000." It stars Jason Statham, who is building a following playing rough-edged heroes in the McQueen-Bogart-Projector mold, and the ever-classy Joan Allen as you've never heard her before, cursing a blue streak. The movie looks headed for a $16-million launch, based on consumer tracking.
That could be enough to top the charts, although "Death Race" faces competition from Sony Pictures' comedy "The House Bunny," starring Anna Faris as a former Playboy bunny who becomes house mother to a clueless pack of sorority sisters, and DreamWorks/Paramount's holdover action farce "Tropic Thunder."
Projector's hunch is that female empowerment plus sex appeal will enable the PG-13-rated "House Bunny" to hop off with bragging rights.
For the R-rated "Hamlet 2," opening at only 103 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, the goal is to create chatter ahead of Wednesday's expansion to 1,500-plus locations. Focus, which snapped up worldwide rights for $10 million at January's Sundance Film Festival, hopes it has a breakout hit. The comedy stars Steve Coogan as a Tucson high school drama teacher who stages an absurd musical sequel to the Bard's original play.
Indie blockbusters such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "Juno" have been rare in today's crowded market, but Focus says it already has recouped much of its initial investment in "Hamlet 2" through foreign territory sales, so it doesn't need the film to be a smash. Even so, the relatively light competition in late August and throughout September has been "merciful" to past Focus releases including the 2005 thriller "The Constant Gardener," said Jack Foley, president of distribution.
Strong business for the recent string of R-rated comedies "Step Brothers," "Pineapple Express" and now "Tropic Thunder" has audiences primed for more, Foley says: "We're playing into that vortex of satisfaction."
The back story of "Hamlet 2" could be worthy of Hollywood. With a $9-million budget, it was the first major film from the producing team of Eric Eisner (son of former Walt Disney Co. honcho Michael Eisner) and Russian tycoon Leonid Rozhetskin, who brought in experienced producer Aaron Ryder to help shepherd the project.
