Entertainment - Action pic "Taken" primed to take box-office crown

Carl DiOrio

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Even a preschooler could tell you where his dad and older brothers will be Sunday -- on the living-room couch watching the Super Bowl. Where they won't be is the neighborhood multiplex.

As a result, studios tend to schedule movies to open over Super Bowl weekend that appeal primarily to women.

Last year, the tactic saw 3-D "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" break big with teens, tweens and moms. Yet this time around, only one of three films opening wide Friday is a clear chick flick: Lionsgate's romantic comedy "New in Town."

But that film, starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr., looks like the weakest debutant in the bunch, according to prerelease surveys of prospective moviegoers. The strongest new pic: Fox's "Taken," an action thriller about an ex-spy out to rescue his daughter from the slave trade.

20th Century Fox hopes to attract ample female interest with a star stint by Liam Neeson in the PG-13 film. But executives admitted that they also are gunning for the guys despite the obvious preoccupation with the Super Bowl this weekend.

"It may not be the obvious move, but there is really nothing for males on Friday and Saturday," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said. "So we may lose them on Sunday, but I think we'll have a pretty clear field for the movie on Friday and Saturday."

The other wide release is Paramount's ghost-filled "The Uninvited," which also totes a PG-13. Such a rating often is key to tapping into female support for horror pics.

Tracking indicates that "Taken" could take in something in the mid- to high-teen millions through Sunday. "Uninvited" might creep into low-double-digit millions, and "Town" should settle in the middle- to upper-single-digit millions range.

Elsewhere this weekend, Focus Features pours "Milk" into 882 venues as the Sean Penn-starring feature finally hits wide release, expanding from 250 screens. The Oscar-nominated Harvey Milk biopic's highest previous theater count was 356 locations just before Christmas.

The Weinstein Co. plans an important expansion into wide release for its Nazi-themed drama "The Reader." A surprise inclusion in the Oscars' best picture nominees, "Reader" will reach north of 1,000 theaters after playing in 367 locations last weekend.

And Sony Pictures Classics returns Oscar-nominated French film "The Class" -- Palme d'Or winner at the 2008 Cannes festival -- to six locations. "Class" has been absent from theaters since a brief Academy-qualifying run in December.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter