Even if nobody goes to see it at all, a movie is a movie no matter how small.
Of course, that won't be an issue for 20th Century Fox's "Horton Hears a Who!" the latest big-budget comedy based on the classic children's stories of Dr. Seuss. The G-rated animated film, whose voice cast includes Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett and Seth Rogen, opens today with an elephant-size weekend in store.
"Horton," which goes ultra-wide at 3,954 theaters riding respectable reviews, is expected to easily be No. 1 and could haul in ticket sales of $55 million or more.
"Doomsday" and "Never Back Down" -- neither of which is a political documentary about Eliot Spitzer -- also open today across the U.S. and Canada, but both action dramas appear headed for grosses in the mid- to high-single digits.
"Horton," computer animated by Fox's Blue Sky Studios team, cost about $90 million to make, not counting the tens of millions in prints and advertising, so it represents a hefty gamble. Fortunately for Fox, its aggressive marketing campaign appears to be paying off.
Thursday's consumer tracking surveys show that among people who say they are definitely heading to a multiplex this weekend, 35% call "Horton" their first choice. That's on par with March 2006's "Ice Age: The Meltdown," which opened at $68 million.
Wary of losing the ever-dangerous expectations game, however, Fox executives are forecasting an opening weekend of $35 million. Last weekend's top movie, Warner Bros.' prehistoric epic "10,000 B.C.," was deemed only moderately mammoth by certain cynical media types after it opened at $36 million.
In its marketing, Fox has played up "Horton's" high-profile voice cast and the record of Blue Sky, maker of the two "Ice Age" pictures and "Robots." Fox has been successful with animated movies in recent years, so "Horton" could add to that momentum if it clicks with family audiences.
The studio marketed and distributed last summer's "The Simpsons Movie," made by James L. Brooks' Gracie Films, and December's partly animated kiddie hit "Alvin and the Chipmunks." And its Blue Sky team is at work on a third "Ice Age" picture for summer 2009. The first "Ice Age" movie opened on the same mid-March weekend in 2002, launching a successful franchise.
Carrey, who plays the gentle but plucky pachyderm in "Horton," and his costars have been working the TV talk show circuit all week.
