Weekly Over/Under: Bring on the John Cena Suck-a-thon!

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 12, 2006

Last week’s Over/Under was a doozie, with The Departed absolutely dominating at the Box Office. The target, $15 million. The Bostonian crime drama said “no problem” as it rolled its way to a $26 million dollar weekend and a 93% fresh rating on the Tomatometer over at Rottentomatoes.com. What more can I say? There was much competition, but it was pretty much a blow out. Here is the Top 5 from last week:

1. The Departed - $26.9 million
2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning - $18.5 million
3. Open Season - $15.6 million
4. Employee of the Month - $11.4 million
5. The Guardian - $9.6 million

Last Week’s Bids:
Neil Miller - Over
Brian Gibson - Over
Chris Beaumont - Over
Cole Abaius - Over
BobbyQuickDraw - Over
Matthew Alexander - Over
Bruno - Over

Everyone chose the over - everyone wins. Simple enough. Let’s try and make things a little bit more difficult this week…

This Week’s Over/Under: Will John Cena’s The Marine suck it up, or will it go over $8 million?

The Analysis: WWE Superstar and wannabe actor John Cena joins Kane (See No Evil) in taking a body shot on Hollywood. His attempt to be the next Ah-nuld-esque action star looks like it should be a bust, but you never know - wrestling is that popular. The film itself looks like a bit of fun, with some pain being inflicted - both on the audience and the bad guys. For the bad guys there are some bad wrestling moves and semi-Marine like hand to hand combat. For the audience, most likely some terrible dialog and a story that adds up too easily, too quickly.

Aside from the surefire suck factor for The Marine, there is plenty of competition that is going to be squirming around the Top 5. The Departed is gaining steam with immaculate critical acclaim, TCM: The Beginning is no slouch thanks to that upcoming Holiday, and Employee of the Month is yet to find its audience. And that is not to mention the other strong releases this week - The Grudge 2 will, to say the least, bring kids and horror nuts out of their homes; and Robin Williams’ Man of the Year has all the political relevance and satire necessary to captivate, or at least tempt legions of Jon Stewart fans. And even though Chris Beaumont predicted it in his box office preview, $8 million is a tough task for The Marine, as its audience may resemble the Marine mantra - being both proud and undoubtedly few.

My Bid: This one should be easy - only devine intervention will carry this one over $8 million. I say under.

Feel free to post your bid below! And for more in-depth conversation around this and any other film related topic, don’t forget to visit the Film School Rejects Forum.

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