Back in early July, we made mention of the fact that Bryan Bertino, writer/director of The Strangers, had at least two projects going on at Rogue Pictures since he ended up giving them a good ol' summer sleeper success story, the grosses for which inevitably prompted talk of a possible sequel.

Well, Variety now tells us that there surely will be a second Strangers, and that Bertino is returning to write (if not direct) it, with a certain star standing to return as well (profitable as the film may have been, I'd rather not risk spoilers, so don't bother clicking on either that Variety link or the 'certain star' one if you've yet to see the film -- after all, it doesn't open in the UK 'til tomorrow).

I felt that The Strangers milked enough tension out of a somewhat sparse premise to merit a watch, but I'm that much more concerned about how redundant or ridiculous a second one would have to be in order to follow it up. The point remains that, if they make it, I will watch it, and so will plenty of others. Let's face it: There are more vicious cycles operating in the world today.

In a weekend glutted with new releases battling the aftershocks of The Dark Knight earthquake, Tropic Thunder debuted below expectations -- but well enough to steal the top spot from The Dark Knight in that film's 5th weekend. The R-rated comedy's $26 million weekend and $37 million 5-day was roughly on par with Pineapple Express' performance the previous weekend, but I think Tropic Thunder was predicted to have broader appeal. In retrospect, the advertising may have emphasized the film's inside-baseball aspects a bit too much.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars did okay in third place with $15 million -- weak for a purported Star Wars film, but not bad for a Saturday morning cartoon. The woeful Mirrors took in a relatively paltry $11 million, a wuss-out signaled by the 11th hour press screening cancellation. Contrast The Strangers, the summer's other major R-rated, non-Shyamalan horror film, which debuted to almost twice as much despite not having as nifty a high-concept.

The Dark Knight, meanwhile, continues to edge toward $500 million. Its 5-weekend total stands at $471 million, enough to top Star Wars' unadjusted numbers. Titanic still looks out of reach, even setting aside the apples-and-oranges aspect of comparing a 1997 release to a 2008 one.

Pineapple Express fell 57% in its second weekend, putting $100 million out of reach. On the other hand, Mamma Mia! continues to be popular, suffering drops of around 20% each week thanks to good word-of-mouth and likely repeat viewings.

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona came in at #10, with $3.7 million on 700 screens, Woody's second-best opening ever. Two spots below that, the poorly-reviewed 3-D spectacle Fly Me to the Moon made $2 million on 450 screens.

The full estimates after the jump.

As someone initially unimpressed with the teaser trailer for next weekend's horror offering, Mirrors, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the unpleasantries on display in the film's restricted trailer, among them the sight of Amy Smart ripping her own jaw off (what can I say, I'm a man of simple taste).

However, I then wondered if that particular moment wasn't the best that the film had to offer. Sure, you don't want to spoil too much before a film opens, but it's a scene that has become the focus of most TV spots and -- in hindsight -- the poster, and as a plot development, I'm almost certain that it'll happen before the film hits its hour mark (a matter that no one will be able to confirm until late Thursday evening, which is its own little omen). But it fell on me to watch that part and find my interest piqued.

Considering that Rogue Pictures was content with bumping back writer-director Bryan Bertino's feature debut, The Strangers, countless times, only for it to turn around and gross a commendable $52 million, it seems appropriate that the studio throws the man a bone with a two-picture deal and seven figures for each.

Not too shabby, says I, and having enjoyed The Strangers, I take further comfort in knowing that the deal does not include a sequel to that film -- although I know that doesn't stop it from happening without him.

According to Variety, one is called Black, the other Alone, and besides that, precious little is known about either film (the former project is described by the trade publication as being "a character-driven thriller with supernatural elements." Alrighty then...) Bertino is simultaneously working on a third thriller called Green Eyes at Paramount. As with the other two, there isn't so much as an IMDb page to be found for it, although it is admittedly early on yet in the process for many details to leak out.

Regardless, I for one am looking forward to seeing the man dodge the sophomore slump. And you?

"If you don't make it yourself, it isn't fun. It's entertainment."

I apologize to my colleagues and readers, because most film critics, reviewers and cinephiles have been known, at least at one point in his or her life, to call a movie "fun." I certainly am guilty of it somewhere, in some review or blog post or whatever. But I'm here to finally set the record straight, even though David Mamet clearly already informed us via the quote above, which is spoken by his wife, actress Rebecca Pidgeon, in his 2000 film State and Main. A movie can not be fun, it can only be entertaining. That is, if we're merely watching it on the screen and had no involvement in its production. Actually, even if we make a film ourself, watching it afterwards should technically still be considered entertaining rather than fun.

Of course, a movie experience can be fun. I have fun at a lot of movies I attend, but not because of the movie I'm watching. Like in the case of my recent experience with The Strangers, the movie was not what was fun, not even my observance of the audience was officially fun. But for me, the ticket buying, the popcorn eating, the sitting in the dark is all fun. And the movie was entertaining, as was the crowd. I guess that the experience of watching a movie at home or on your iPod can also be fun, but still in any scenario, the actual movie itself is never fun; it's only entertaining.

This week, I don't want to talk about anything new. I don't want to discuss the good news about studios and European exhibitors finally agreeing on a virtual print fee. I don't want to comment on Nielsen's research showing the strong consumer appetite for 3-D films (I'll be talking enough about 3-D next week in anticipation of Journey to the Center of the Earth). I don't want to even get people's hopes up about Microsoft's supposed "manners device" that silences cell phones instead of blocking them (signal blocking was recently found to be illegal in the U.S.). I really don't want to comment on Mark Gill's "The Sky is Falling" speech from the L.A. Film Festival loosely concerning the state of art house cinema (the speech is more related to film making and financing, plus I already played Chicken Little last week).

That's a bit misleading there, in the title; Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan wasn't able to claim the weekend's top spot over Dreamworks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, but a) no one was really expecting it to do that, and b) Zohan's $40 million opening weekend is at least par for Sandler, roughly tying Click's opening weekend, and beating I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry by a handy $6 million. Sandler has only done measurably better with The Longest Yard, Anger Management and Big Daddy.

Panda, meanwhile, is an unadulterated victory. Its $60 million weekend beats everything in the Dreamworks Animation canon except the two Shrek sequels, and wouldn't have been a disappointment for any Pixar film. Good reviews and a witty, appealing ad campaign certainly helped, though I was kind of hoping that airing that insufferable Jack Black "silence is golden" intro in AMC theaters for the past, oh, eight months, would have backfired.

The 62% drop for Sex and the City shouldn't surprise anyone, though the folks at New Line/Warners probably had a reasonable hope of a bit more staying power. The 55% drop for The Strangers isn't too horrendous, and the $38 million cume on the micro-budgeted horror flick is a big win for Rogue regardless. Cinematical darling The Promotion debuted on 6 screens to a respectable but unspectacular $28,900 ($4,816 per screen).

Check out the top 10, and a look forward to next week, after the jump.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the online game that karate chops all its competition in half. Last week, we asked you to give us captions for a photo from the new creepy flick The Strangers. Serious props go out to Kristi S. for cracking us up with one of my personal favorite winning captions of 2008 so far. (And so what if I wound up Netflix-ing Armageddon the other night because of Kristi? Is that so wrong?)

1. "Hurry up!!! Armageddon is on TBS tonight and I don't wanna miss a thing!!!" -- Kristi S.

2. "Liv: Take The Deal!
Scott: No Deal! No. Deal." -- Sam S.

3. "Mr. Tyler, put down the ax and allow me to explain. SHE was the one hitting on ME." -- Dodd A.

See full image and all captions


I don't know if you're aware, but this week everybody (including we here at Cinematical) was kung fu fighting. Oh yes, those cats were fast as lightening. In fact, it was a little bit frightening. And ... I'll stop now. Kung Fu Panda has finally arrived in theaters, and we're celebrating by handing one grand prize winner one cast-signed Kung Fu Panda movie poster, one Kung Fu Panda "I Can Find It" book, one stuffed "Po" plush, one pack of Kung Fu Panda Hubba Bubba gum, one Kung Fu Panda McDonalds Happy Meal toy, one Kung Fu Panda "Tigress" pez dispenser and one HP/Kung Fu Panda activity CD. Phew. Get all that? Additionally, two runners-up will get the cast-signed movie poster. Sound off below kung fu caption-ers!



Read the official rules for this contest

Whether it's the critic leaving the screening room, flabbergasted at another mess ... the producer baffled at how much time and treasure and good intentions got squandered into an immense dog's egg ... or the actor who had some sort of a hunch that a film could be work, only to find out that there wasn't enough of him to fight the dozens working against him ... all can console themselves with screenwriter William Goldman's rule: 'Nobody knows anything." This is the consolation when sure fire things go wrong. If nobody knows anything, there's still 7 things you ought to know if you're making movies ...

"Next week is all counterprogramming, with the only wide debuts being the R-rated Sex and the City and The Strangers. Expect Indy to hold on to the crown." - me, last Monday

Yeah, good work, Nostradamus. "Counterprogramming" -- can you believe this idiot? Who let him on here, anyway? Far from headlining mere counterprogramming, Carrie Bradshaw delivered a swift kick to Indiana Jones' man-crotch, winning the weekend with $55.7 million to Indy's $46. Sex and the City's bow is the 5th all-time best opening weekend for an R-rated film. I -- and, in my defense, many others -- obviously underestimated the size of the "niche" audience eager to watch the big-screen finale of the far-too-popular HBO show. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, meanwhile, fell a hefty but hardly uncommon 55% from its first weekend, and it looks likely to eventually overtake Iron Man. That film, in turn, continues to have remarkable legs, dropping only 32% and bringing its cume to $276.6 million. And, since I caught flak for not mentioning it last week, I'll say that What Happens in Vegas is also holding very well, despite sucking.

Rogue Pictures will be very pleased with the debut of The Strangers, a low-budget, R-rated horror film. $20.7 million is a very good number, matching that of the PG-13 Prom Night 8 weeks back. And a #3 turn in last weekend's marketplace is nothing to be ashamed of. Horror films tend to plummet pretty quickly after the first weekend, but word-of-mouth on this one might actually be okay; we'll see. A bit further down the chart, Tarsem's cult-ready The Fall performed unspectacularly in its first weekend of semi-wide release, taking in $361,000 on 108 screens.

Click through for the weekend's top 10, and a couple of very sheepish thoughts about next weekend.