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Director Tim Story, Actors (L-R) Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans and Loan Gruffudd arrive for the world premiere of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" at the VUE cinema in Leicester Square in London June 12, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- "Ocean's Thirteen"
had its moment at the top of the heap last weekend, and now "Fantastic Four:
Rise of the Silver Surfer" is set to take over the lead.
"Nancy Drew," a revival of the celebrated teen detective and the weekend's other new wide arrival, appears
fated for a place in the middle of the pack.
The original "Fantastic Four," which bowed in July
2005 via 20th Century Fox, attracted decidedly mixed reviews but captured the
top spot with sales of 56.1 million U.S. dollars, going on to a domestic gross
of 154.7 million dollars.
Like "Ocean's Thirteen," "Silver Surfer" reunites the
principals from the original film -- director Tim Story and actors Ioan
Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis and Julian McMahon -- and
introduces a new character, the legendary Silver Surfer, with movement by Doug
Jones, voice by Laurence Fishburne and CG effects courtesy of Weta Digital. The
introduction of the Silver Surfer could prove a big plus, rewarding fans for
their loyalty to the franchise.
Holdovers "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Knocked Up," which
have held down the first and second spots in midweek business, should shift to
the second and third positions, respectively.
Meanwhile, "Nancy Drew" is aiming for teen girls and
their moms, and should end in the low-teen-millions.
As a character, Nancy Drew has been around for
decades: She first appeared as the central character of a long-running series of
kids' books in 1930. Bonita Granville played her in four Warners movies in the
late 1930s, and Pamela Sue Martin, pre-"Dynasty," played her in "The Hardy
Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" series on ABC in the late 1970s.
The new movie stars Emma Roberts -- or, as the media
insist on identifying her, "Emma Roberts, niece of Julia Roberts and daughter of
Eric Roberts." Actually, to her young fans, Roberts is better known as the star
of the Nickelodeon series "Unfabulous." That should help the film, in which
Nancy travels to Hollywood to unravel a mystery surrounding a dead movie star,
to carve out a constituency.
(Agencies)