Today I was was confronted with grass. Not the drug. It was thick, dark greenish, and made for walking on. The kid in me felt the need to walk through it, the adult in me feared dog feces. The kid won. There was something therapeutic about it.

THE MOVIE THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT NOT TALKING ABOUT (SPOILERS)

The social experiment seemed to work with Inception, and Christopher Nolan’s follow up to The Dark Knight should have enough heat to open in the $60’s or $70’s. That means at worst domestically it does $150 Million, and at best clears $300 depending on word of mouth. If it ends up on the low-end (though advertising hasn’t been cheap) with international it’s not going to be seen as a failure or folly (perhaps – at worst – mildly disappointing), even if there is going to be a chunk of the audience befuddled or angered over the film. But it looks like tracking has kicked up and the numbers should be solid, even if it’s not “franchise numbers.” Even Avatar opened under $80, so the question is how long it plays. With this summer it could play through September, easily.

Ultimately, this is the way the system should work in that Nolan delivered an audience favorite and now gets to make his personal movie, but there aren’t a lot of artists who are given the sort of free reign that Nolan has been given –The Dark Knight caught the zeitgeist, but few “artistic” filmmakers are given such chances. And we see this window shrinking for a number of people given quality projects, and then a “personal” picture. Guillermo Del Toro was supposed to have that after working on The Hobbit, but that didn’t pan out. The other side of this is Peter Jackson, whose two worst films followed his blockbusters. Sam Raimi’s name didn’t get that many people in the door for Drag Me to Hell. And though people like Shawn Levy and Michael Bay have been hit machines, they haven’t really bit at taking chances.

It’s exciting to see a picture like Inception catch on, and hopefully it opens doors, but it probably won’t.

HEY, HOW YOU DOING, SORRY YOU CAN’T GET THROUGH, LEAVE YOUR NAME AND YOUR PREDICTIONS, AND WE’LL GET BACK TO YOU

Inception wins the weekend. Despicable Me has been playing, so they’re going to breeze past $100 this weekend. Hot shit. Predators dies a quick death as an opening weekend picture, so it should be out of the top five. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice hasn’t caught fire yet with a Wednesday opening… I think it’s a misfire.

1. Inception – $77.3 Million
2. Despicable Me – $37.5 Million
3. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – $20.7
4. Twilight: Eclipse – $16.7 Million
5. Toy Story 3 – $14.5 Million

I could be high on Inception. I think the bottom is $60 Million. Apprentice could go up because of weekend stuff, but I think families are more into Me. Sunday should be exciting.