In a weekend crammed with four new wide releases, the film that sells the most tickets might very well be the genre spoof Superhero Movie. The comedy’s primary competition will be the gambling drama 21, based on Ben Mezrich’s outstanding non-fiction book. Although Kevin Spacey co-produced and co-stars in this movie, there are no bankable performers in the lead roles, making it difficult for 21 to find an audience large enough to overcome the same crowd that opened Meet the Spartans to 18 million just three months ago. The feature length adaptation of Horton Hears a Who should continue to do well seeing as there are no family films out there to compete with it. Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns will fall sharply as the majority of his fans probably turned out for last weekend’s opening, but the inspirational comedy drama should still manage a spot near the top of the box office list. Rounding out the top five should be Stop-Loss, the Iraq war drama from Kimberly Peirce. This is her first feature since Boys Don’t Cry, the film that won Hilary Swank her first Best Actress statuette in 1999, and the film that kept American Beauty from being only the fourth film to sweep the top five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay).

How It Will Look On Monday:
Superhero Movie: 18 Million
21: 15 Million
Horton Hears a Who: 13.5 Million
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns: 10 Million
Stop-Loss: 6 Million

Predicting the box office is a dangerous game
Full of dangerous traps and movies so lame
All the sequels, prequels, and more of the same
That surly my friends you would think they’d feel shame
But this weekend will prove like weekends before
They know what they’re doing, they do know the score
For Horton will surely put butts in the seats
With parents buying plenty of popcorn and treats
45 Million seems a very safe number
Even in the middle of a box office slumber
For the studio to expect, to wish for, to dream
And the suits will let loose with a delightedish scream

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One year ago this weekend 300 began its gargantuan assault on the box office, but can any of the films coming out this weekend hope to match that film’s record setting total? In a word, no. But Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 B.C. sure is going to try. Disney should continue to cash in on the audience that made The Gameplan a hit with the Martin Lawrence/Raven Symone family comedy College Road Trip. Will Ferrell should hold on to just enough of his audience to stay in the top five with Semi-Pro. The Bank Job should do solid enough business, on less than 1500 screens, to round out the list alongside Vantage Point.

How it will Look on Monday:
10,000 B.C. 28 Million
College Road Trip: 18 Million
Semi-Pro: 8 Million
The Bank Job: 7 Million
Vantage Point: 6 Million

Sure it might be a time for love and romance, but a science fiction film will be the box office champ this weekend. Doug Liman’s Jumper should score big with no other film like it out there in the marketplace. For that same reason the big screen adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles has the kind of built-in name recognition that should drive it to within striking distance of the top spot. Step Up 2 The Streets should quietly amass solid attendance numbers thanks to the popularity of the first film. Fool’s Gold will tumble due to the increased competition, but should round out the top five along with Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.

How It Will Look on Monday:
Jumper: 30 Million
The Spiderwick Chronicles: 28 Million
Step Up 2 The Streets: 14 Million
Fool’s Gold: 10 Million
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins: 9 Million

The Paris Hilton vehicle The Hottie and the Nottie opened in theaters last weekend and took home approximately $9,000 dollars, making it possibly the biggest box office bomb of all time.

The basic plot is that Hilton, the hottie, is best friends with Christine Lakin, the nottie. A guy is in love with Hilton, but can’t get over how crappy looking her friend is. Then the friend has a super sweet extreme makeover, takes off her kilo of fug makeup, and becomes equally as hot as Hilton (if still brunette), at which point the guy realizes he’s been in love with the ugly duckling all along. Obviously this movie sucks b#lls, but plenty of reviewers take care to point out how offensive the message of this story is, placing all the girl’s value on her physical beauty and implying she can’t get love without it.

Well, this probably sounds a little cynical but, to me, the dumbed down, superficial comedy based on the Pygmalion template is just another cheap staple of cinema, like Taming of the Shrew stories (when romance based on a ruse or a game turns real) or Prodigal Son stories (when the reckless hero redeems himself but it’s too late to avert tragedy).

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With fond memories of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and the fact that women haven’t had a film pitched at them this year since 27 Dresses, the Matthew McConaughey/Kate Hudson romantic action comedy Fool’s Gold should triumph this weekend. The Martin Lawrence vehicle Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins actually opens on more screens than Fool’s Gold, and could possibly take the box office crown. And if the Hannah Montana concert film can hold onto at least 60% of its audience from last weekend it could sneak into the top spot, but since Disney advertised that it would be in theaters for one week only that level of repeat business seems highly unlikely - unless 12 year olds suddenly get drivers licenses. The horror film The Eye will probably drop over 50% from last weekend, but that should still be enough to stay in the top 5. The final spot will most likely be the unstoppable box office powerhouse that is Juno.

How it will look on Monday:
Fool’s Gold: 18 Million
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins: 16 Million
Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert: 15 Million
The Eye: 6 Million
Juno: 5 Million

The NFL’s showcase event inevitably takes a bite out of the box office, so expect a good showing for films aimed at women and teens. Meaning of course that the juggernaut that is Hannah Montana should pull off an upset bigger than if the Giants actually take down the Patriots. Although it’s only on a few hundred screens, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert costs 15 dollars a ticket. This fact should help it to score off the charts when it comes to per screen average, so much so that it wins the weekend. Before the game, the new Jessica Alba horror film The Eye should pull in enough business for the number two spot. Rambo should hold onto enough of its audience from last week to slide into the third spot. Fourth and fifth places should go to a pair of best picture nominees - Juno and There Will Be Blood (which doubles its theater count to 1500).

How It Will Look On Monday:

1. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert: 15 million
2. The Eye: 12 Million
3. Rambo: 9 Million
4. Juno: 8 Million
5. There Will Be Blood: 8 Million

The weekend after Oscar nominations are always difficult for those of us who stare into box office crystal balls because the Best Picture nominees go wide again in order to profit from the nods. They rarely actually crack the top 5, but they can draw audiences off of other films that are brand new to theaters. Expect an impressive jump for There Will Be Blood. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film goes to over 800 screens and tied for the most nominations which should equate to somewhere between 8 and 10 million. Michael Clayton and No Country For Old Men should add about 4 million dollars each to their total. The wild card in this discussion is Juno which picked up nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. The film has been performing solidly, and those nominations may get an older crowd that had thus far stayed away from the seemingly teen-oriented film into theaters. The film should take in 8 to 10 million more.

How the top 5 will look on Monday:

Cloverfield: 22 Million
Meet the Spartans: 16 Million
Rambo: 15 Million
27 Dresses: 11 Million
The Bucket List: 10 Million