The Week In: Box Office Speculation - Stranger than Last Week?

Impossible.

Too many movies open or expand this weekend to really know what's going to happen. Borat will certainly be #1 again, now on a shit ton more screens. Stranger than Fiction will do some business off a strong trailer and Ferrell's popularity, but I think will disappoint in the long run. Can A Good Year restore the reputation of middle-brow prestige, recently trashed by All the King's Men (as well as Cinderella Man last year)? Hopefully not. Babel should have little trouble exploding this weekend. And then there's some horror film that looks like it might be the third Grudge movie, as well as another Christian Bale movie.

Shit is crowded.

Predix:

1. Borat - $23mil
2. Stranger than Fiction - $16mil
3. A Good Year - $11mil
4. Santa Clause - $10mil
5. Babel - $9.5mil
6. Flushed Away - $9mil
7. Saw III - $6.8mil
8. Harsh Times - $6mil
9. Departed - $5.5mil
10. The Return - $5.3mil

INDIE PIC OF THE WEEK:

What Is It? - George McFly's undistributed down syndrome vehicle, only playing this weekend at Anthology.

Actual Results:

1. Borat - $29mil
2. Santa Clause - $16.8mil
3. Flushed Away - $16.7mil
4. Stranger than Fiction - $14.1mil
5. Saw III - $6.6mil
6. Babel - $5.6mil
7. Departed - $5.2mil
8. The Return - $4.7mil
9. The Prestige - $4.6mil
10. A Good Year - $3.7mil

How embarrassing.