"The Two Towers": How much do you think it's going to make on opening weekend? The movie was still being edited up until a few weeks ago. Does anyone know the running time yet? My guess is it'll probably gross in the neighborhood of 60-75 million from that Wednesday (the 18th) through Sunday. You?

I give it 80 to 90 million from Wednesday to Sunday.

My wife watched the DVD and like it better than watching it in the theater. Now she wants to go see TT. I believe there will be lots of people who want to see TT now that they have watched it on DVD even thought they did not see LotR in the Theater.

70-75M.

Lots of people who want to see it, but at 3 hours, there are less showings, so less money.

I would say around 75-80M Wednesday to Sunday.

You're probably right. The DVD sales are pretty damn good. I think I have a better chance getting in to see the movie on opening night given it's a work and school night. Better than, say, on Friday or Saturday nights.

$81,302,467

$77,777,777.77

Foregone conclusion that it will be #1 and make at least as much as FOTR did in its opening frame; but overall, completely unimportant, because unlike almost every other high-profile major movie it won't drop like a rock in subsequent weekends. The short word is "legs." The interesting thing will be to observe whether it has even stronger ones than the first movie. I think it's possible.

How come no one has started a "Who thinks The Two Towers will flop" thread?

Because we're talking about "The Lord of the Rings" here, not "The Hot Chick" Which sadly, will probably turn a profit. And I'm guessing that p.o.s. will gross anywhere up to 50 million or so. Like "Jackass".

I was alluding to the thread from last year asking who thought LOTR: TFOTR would flop (note winkie). A lot of people did (not me).

I know you were kidding. And remember that thread. Hence my winkie too. Say, that didn't sound right.

I'm guessing close to LOTR but slightly less. I know a lot of people that were disappointed with the first one so unlikely that they will be rushing to see it the first weekend or two. Final guess is 10% lower than LOTR the first week with about 20% less when all is said and done.

What kind of people were disappointed with it? DId they just find it boring or build it up too much in their mind? I know more people who were pleasantly surprised by LOTR:FOTR than were disappointed. I predict it will do about the same Friday thru Saturday, or maybe less since it faces competition from Gangs of New York. However, it will definitely have a bigger opening day than FOTR.

You really think "LOTR:The Two Towers" faces any stiff competition from"Gangs of New York"? I love Martin Scorcese movies, but they have been mostly critical hits and not box-office smashes. I think his most successfully film financially was "Cape Fear" at around 75 million.

A little bit of everyone from me that hadn't read the books before I watched LOTR and expected a great movie to others that read the books but aren't into movies so much that they read about it on the net for months and years before it came out, to those that read the books and expected something incredible. The movie was one of the better movies I saw last year, but wasn't great IMHO. Many people that I have talked to thought the same or even would give it a C+ at best. If I am free the first weekend it is out, I will go see it. If not, I will get around to seeing sometime in the first month. I think there are more people with my POV out there than those that must see it on openning day. I guess we will see soon enough.

I think about 40 - 45 million for Friday - Sunday.

i think 100 mill easy

My prediction is $30 million on Wednesday, and an additional $50 million Thursday through Sunday.

65 mm

I think Ketamine has it backward: the opening will be much stronger than LOTR, *because* people know what they're getting this time. They're not wondering, "Will it be great or will it suck?" I think people will be much more willing to go see it opening weekend (as is usual with sequels.)

An overall gross of 10-20% lower does sound perfectly plausible, though, unless the video version recruited a huge number of new viewers.

But who cares, frankly, so long as it does well enough to give Jackson the budget and freedom he needs to finish off the third movie?

After much deliberation , I predict that the Wednesday-Thursday take will be

$38.6 million

And for Friday-Sunday, I predict an additional

$54.2 million

For a five-day total of

92.8 million

[Edited to add...]
Oh, and by the way, people, PLEASE STOP REFERRING TO THE FIRST MOVIE AS LOTR. The WHOLE SERIES is LOTR. The first movie is FOTR.

Let's give the public some credit. The film was thrown together in one year to cash in on the success of the first one? No way it can be good. I even hear they are bringing back Gandalf (or is it his twin brother like in City Slickers 2 ) and they are even adding a JarJar-type CGI character to appeal to the kiddies .

This POS will be lucky to break $10 million.

Damn_studios

I bet they make a third one also to milk this series dry

All three movies were filmed simultaneously, so there's no danger of the third film not making it to the theatres -- even if TTT doesn't make a dime.

Granted, I'm sure the success of FOTR gave Jackson a bit more leeway with the second film, and probably allowed him to go back and make the extended DVD version of FOTR, but from day one it was an "all three or nothing" deal.