KATE HUDSON - BOX OFFICE LIKELY TO MAKE EASTWOOD'S DAY

BOX OFFICE LIKELY TO MAKE EASTWOOD'S DAY

Two new movies are opening wide over the weekend, but both are likely to be overtaken by one that has been running in limited release and will now be expanding nationwide. Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino , which has been performing spectacularly in a handful of theaters, is expected to earn $20-25 million, as it challenges Fox's romantic comedy Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, which analysts figure should earn $18-22 million. Also opening is Sony's "supernatural thriller" The Unborn, starring Gary Oldman and Odette Yustman (not screened for critics), which is predicted to earn $8-10 million. A third movie, Not Easily Broken , is opening in about 700 theaters. (A.O. Scott of the New York Times , noting that the producers had scheduled few press screenings for the movie, concluded, "This is the kind of picture that will probably meet with critical indifference."

09/01/2009