At this point we can always expect "The Hunger Games" or "The Hobbit" to win big at the weekend box office, though "The Hobbit" grossed only in the seventy-millions while the former did roughly twice that. It's more interesting to see what hangs around, like Tyler Perry's "Madea Christmas." This guy stopped doing advanced screenings years ago, owns his own multi-thousand-square-foot production facility in Georgia, and as profiled in The New Yorker four years ago, keeps tapping the predictability well until it runs dry. There's still an audience there that goes to see his films in theaters and he comes in third at the box office. Almost twenty years ago, I realized action films had begun to debut year round, yet Gary Fleder, a veteran ("Kiss the Girls," "The Runaway Jury"), helms "Homefront" with an A-list star and in its third week it's grossed eighteen million. Perhaps it was supposed to get the leftover marketshare from all the blockbusters, or they should just wait, even past "Grudge Match" with De Niro and Stallone which looks to be a feel-good comedy about ageing. That director, Peter Segal, has been hit-and-miss with "50 First Dates," "Anger Management," the "The Longest Yard" remake with Adam Sandler, and his most successful venture, "Get Smart." Segal could make it work, and there has to be a story with supporting players, which the latter had beyond Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway. The rounding out of the cast will test the legs of those heavyweights in a lightweight comedy.
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