Short midweek note

As stated in my last post, the success or failure of King Kong depends on how it does against the huge glut of new releases hitting theatres this week. Well, the Wednesday numbers are in, and here's what we got:

1. Chronicles of Narnia - 4.94 million
2. King Kong - 4.87 million
3. Fun With Dick and Jane - 3.76 million
4. Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - 2.55 million
5. The Family Stone - 1.53 million

Narnia has chased Kong throughout the earlier part of the week and has now passed it. If this is any indication, Narnia could be tops at the box office this weekend and Kong could get left behind. The fan review site Rotten Tomatoes grades Kong 7.7 out of 10, which is quite good, but the word of mouth just doesn't seem to be driving folks to the theatre and commit 3+ hours to the flick.

Some of you may be wondering, why am I so interested in Kong? The answer is simple. It's the most expensive movie ever made, the director has made the greatest series of fanboy films not titled Star Wars in recent memory and it's a remake of film whose central character is a name brand to almost anyone over 30 and recognizable to even the youngest film buffs. If this film tanks, the impact on Hollywood will be far reaching.

Back next week with the final numbers and a list of January DVD releases.