BEN AFFLECK - MOVIEGOERS LIKELY TO TAKE HOLIDAY FROM THEATERS

MOVIEGOERS LIKELY TO TAKE HOLIDAY FROM THEATERS

As usual the Labor Day holiday, which marks the end of the studios' summer-release schedule, offers little to draw big crowds to the multiplex. The top attraction, Lionsgate's Gamer , a sci-fi thriller, wasn't screened for critics. Another new entry, the comedy All About Steve , probably shouldn't have been either, given the drubbing critics have handed it. A third, the Mike Judge comedy Extract, starring Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman, is butting heads against competitors in just 1,611 theaters. Prospects for all three newcomers are so dismal, box office analysts suggest, that there's a good chance that last week's winner, The Final Destination , which is still playing in premium-priced 3D venues, could top them all -- something rare for a horror flick. They could even take a bashing from Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. One thing on which all the forecasters seem to agree no film is likely to earn even as much as $15 million this weekend.

04/09/2009