ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown Comments

Box Office Guru Preview: Black vs. Sandler in Comedy Showdown

by Gitesh Pandya | June 05, 2008

Summary

Two big doses of comedy from a pair of Hollywood's funniest men will hit the multiplexes across North America on Friday in a fierce battle for the number one spot. For family audiences there is the animated extravaganza Kung Fu Panda starring Jack Black while Adam Sandler counters with his latest laughfest aimed at young men, You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Back to Article

(1-20 of 20 posts) | Reply

Some guy you dont know writes:
on Jun 05 2008 05:38 PM

I prey to god Black wins.

(Reply to this)

EthanEverett writes:
on Jun 05 2008 06:08 PM

Woah man...Box Office Guru is totally underestimating Sandler. And they have the stupidest reasons to do so too..."this movie won't do as well because Adan's changing his voice"? And really? A "long title" and a "not-so-macho storyline" will be problems? I would think fans of Sandler would think that the silly long title is hilarious and the plot is outrageously stupidly funny. So is the voice! Those are the worst reasons to say why this movie won't do well.
Have you guys even been in an auditorium that shows the preview for "Zohan"? Everyone, even non-Sandler fans, cracks up everytime. It's one of those "I definitely wouldn't mind going with my friends to see it on a Friday since I'm out of school and there's really never anything else to do. It'll be fun!" movies. MARK MY WORDS this movie will do very good.

This IS going to be a big weekend though, making tons of cash. ZOHAN and PANDA will do very, very well while Indy 4 will reclaim the top spot and SATC will fall (mr.) BIG!:P

MY PREDICTIONS
1. KUNG FU PANDA - $56.4 million
2. YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN - $49.8 million
3. INDIANA JONES and the KINGDOM of the CRYSTAL SKULL - $23.2 million
4. SEX and the CITY - $16.8 million
5. THE STRANGERS - $10.8 million
6. IRON MAN - $8.8 million

:]

(Reply to this)

mariner fan writes:
on Jun 05 2008 06:08 PM

seeeing kung fu panda and zohan going to be 1 funny weekend

(Reply to this)

filmboy22 writes:
on Jun 05 2008 07:18 PM

I think the Zohan and Panda predictions are pretty accurate and they will both be big hits but I'm telling you, Wall-E will be the year's top grosser.

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Splitter writes:
on Jun 05 2008 10:19 PM

Kung Fu Panda is going to win. I was initially against it but am reconsidering, and Zohan CANNOT be worse than Chuck and Larry. It just can't.

I don't know about top grosser, filmboy22, but Wall-E has a lot going for it and we all know it will be #1 its opening weekend. Though following on the heels of Ratatouille is no easy feat when it comes to the critics. That movie was pure cinematic magic, and I'm hoping it will at least match Iron Man's tomatometer.

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EthanEverett writes:
on Jun 05 2008 11:41 PM

Actually Splitter, although I know you probably didn't know this, Wall-E is getting some pretty incredible advance reviews. The film is being called magnificent, powerful and magical. I think it'll definitely get over 90% on it's tomatometer.

But top grosser? No way. It'll reach $295 million tops. No movie this year will beat "Iron Man" sorry to say...the only ones that might reach close to it are "Dark Knight", "Incredible Hulk" (it's getting excellent word-of-mouth and after seeing "Iron Man" a few billion times, people would like the next Marvel movie that ties the Avengers together) and yes, "Wall-E" but all three will be off about 20-30 million from Iron Man's total gross, which should round out at $318 million. Indy won't reach Iron Man's gross either but it'll be the closest one to do so, going out at probably about $307 million.

:]

(Reply to this)

Roxtar writes:
on Jun 05 2008 11:59 PM

@Bruce Campbell
I prey to God you die.

Panda will definitely get the number one spot this weekend, while Zohan will probably rest in second. I, like many others, really hope SATC bombs worse than Speed Racer this weekend. I was forced to watch it this week and could not help but feel like I was being tortured in a similar fashion to the way Alex DeLarge was in A Clockwork Orange.

Also, pretty sure Wall-E won't come close to being the number one grosser of the year, but I must know where you came up with that guess. I don't see it being as big as it could be due to the fact Panda coming out just 3 weeks before Wall-E as well. I'm not so sure parents would be so willing to fork out the extra cash to see two children's movies in one month, but you never know. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see what all the fuss is about with Wall-E, sure he's adorable, but I just can't understand why anyone would be even the slightest bit excited about it especially with all the other huge summer films coming out in the next couple of months

(Reply to this)

Bloody Mathias writes:
on Jun 06 2008 01:13 AM

Panda - $50 million

Zohan - $40 million

Sex & The City - $29 million

Indiana Jones - $ 24 million

The Strangers - $ 9 million

Iron Man - $8 million

People have been underestimating Sex this entire time and they still continue to do so. Not me, i'm guessing it tops Indy again this weekend. As for wall-E

Opening weekend - $60 million

Total Domestic Gross - $250 million

(Reply to this)

Some guy you dont know writes:
on Jun 06 2008 04:42 AM

In reply to this comment (#1775585)
You don't have the balls to kill me yourself so you get god to do it for you? *****. Be a man and kill me with your own hands. Coward.

(Reply to this)

sportsrule101 writes:
on Jun 06 2008 07:17 AM

Panda - $51 million

Zohan - $46 million

Sex & The City - $28 million

Indiana Jones - $ 22 million

The Strangers - $ 10 million

Iron Man - $8 million

(Reply to this)

minderbinder writes:
on Jun 06 2008 09:32 AM

Let's see, Panda might set the record...for animated films...but not sequels...from dreamworks.

Got enough qualifiers there?

I think Panda will come out on top easily, it will do very well. The big question this summer is Iron Man or Indy. I'm definitely rooting for the former since it's simply a far better movie. Iron Man has had great legs, but Indy got such a boost from its opening. At this point, I think it could go either way, we'll get a better picture after this weekend - how much will each continue to hold up?

Can't wait for WALL*E and Dark Night, but I'm skeptical that either has a shot at being the top grosser this summer.

(Reply to this)

Trufire writes:
on Jun 06 2008 10:52 AM

IMO:

Kung Fu Panda- 58.2 Mil

Zohan- 45.5 Mil

Sex and the City- 28.4 Mil

Indiana Jones 4- 25.1 Mil

The Strangers- 11.2 Mil

Iron Man- 8.3 Mil

Prince Caspian- 7.8 Mil

What Happens in Vegas- 3.9 Mil

Speed Racer- 1.6 Mil

Baby Mama- 1.4 Mil

Made of Honor- 1.0 Mil

(Reply to this)

tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jun 06 2008 11:36 AM

When the hell is Made of Honor going away? At the 12 screen theater near me, it actually occupies an entire theater's showings.

GO AWAY.

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Jun 06 2008 02:58 PM

Uhhhh... I dont really plan on seeing Zohan unless I have a really boaring Summer Day and I have seen all the other movies I want to see.
My Predictions
Kung Fu Panda- 62 Million Overall- 158 Million
Zohan- 38 Million Overall- 108 Million
Indy- 20 Million Overall- 320 Million
Sex & City- 15 million Overall- 122 Million
Next Week
Incredible Hulk- 75 Million Overall- 165 Million
The Happening- 18-25 Million Overall 55 Million

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Jun 06 2008 02:59 PM

Im definately going to see Panda this weekend though.

(Reply to this)

Eggnog70 writes:
on Jun 07 2008 10:52 AM

In reply to this comment (#1775219)
For the dude that predicted Sex and the City will make 16.8 million, that would mean it would drop by 70 percent from last week. No film ever drops that much so be ready to be wrong. Sex and the City will have repeat viewers since it has such a strong following. I'm going to predict that it will make 33 million.

(Reply to this)

EthanEverett writes:
on Jun 07 2008 01:41 PM

Hey sorry, forgot to give my final updated predictions. I usually only post all my predictions on ComingSoon.net's Weekend Warrior and didn't post my updated ones here.

I posted this on ComingSoon!'s Weekend Warrior June 6-8 column on Friday afternoon so no, I didn't update these AFTER yesterday's numbers came in.

SLIGHTLY ALTERED WEEKEND PREDICTIONS
1. Kung Fu Panda - $56.9 million (up .5 million)
2. You Don't Mess with the Zohan - $46.7 million (down 3.1 million)
3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $23.9 million (up .7 million)
4. Sex and the City - $18 million (up 1.6 million sad to say...what has this pathetic feeble-minded female world come to?)
5. The Strangers - $11.1 million (up .3 million)
6. Iron Man - $8.5 million (down .3 million)

I also posted these predictions earlier on that site:
Panda's total will round out to $188 million
Zohan will end at $122 million
Indiana Jones will finish off at $307 million
Sex and the City will die off at $123 million
The Strangers will end it's total at $57 million
Iron Man will finish at $318 million...it will be the movie total to beat this year.

:]

(Reply to this)

kooks25 writes:
on Jun 07 2008 02:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#1777967)
Agreed.

(Reply to this)

tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jun 07 2008 04:11 PM

I hope JokerBoy is right about The Happening doing poorly.

Friday Estimates from BoxOfficeMojo

1 KUNG FU PANDA
4,114 $20,000,000

2 YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
3,462 $14,850,000

3 SEX AND THE CITY
New Line

3,325 $7,300,000

4 INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Paramount

4,190 $6,540,000

5 THE STRANGERS
Rogue Pictures

2,477 $3,100,000

6 IRON MAN
Paramount

2,931 $2,160,000

7 THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
Buena Vista

3,065 $1,675,000

8 WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
Fox

2,366 $1,140,000

9 BABY MAMA
Universal

922 $267,000

10 MADE OF HONOR
Sony / Columbia

740 $263,000

(Reply to this)

beardscanty writes:
on Jun 22 2008 03:24 PM

As much as I want Sandler to come out on top, I'm afraid this isn't going to be the case. So many people have complimented Black's new movie, Kung-fu Panda and I'm pretty sure it will come out as the victor in this little competition.

(Reply to this)

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