Box Office Predictions: August 31st - September 2nd

Once again, it's time for me to try and pull a Miss Cleo and predict the upcoming weekend box office - except without the fraudulent Jamaican accent and phone scams. Shouldn't she have used her powers for the good of all humanity by solving crimes, becoming a weather forecaster, or informing people like me not to waste my college fund on video games?

BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
August 31st - September 2nd

1. Halloween, $24 million
2. Superbad, $15 million
3. Balls of Fury, $14 million
4. Death Sentence, $12 million
5. The Bourne Ultimatum, $9 million
6. Rush Hour 3, $8 million
7. Mr. Bean's Holiday, $6 million
8. War, $4 million
9. The Nanny Diaries, $3 million
10. The Simpsons Movie, $3 million

Now that we're finally winding down from a record-setting summer for Hollywood ($4+ billion!), this Labor Day weekend will signal the incoming Fall season with children returning to school and money slowly trickling away from cinema. Since young folk won't be able to go out as much, we're presented with three new films that target an older male audience.

Halloween should slash its way back from the dead, snatching the top spot from Superbad as the legion of Michael Myers fans created over the course of this three-decade franchise will convince their friends and family to come join them for some bloody carnage. Freddy vs. Jason proved that old horror franchises still have mass appeal, so expect this Rob Zombie film to pull in over $20 million - despite the string of bad luck with R-rated horror films throughout 2007.

Following this depressing slasher flick is a film that is significantly different from Halloween, yet doesn't seem to die, either: Superbad. Considering this film is the must-see film for this generation of high school teenagers, expect Superbad to continue its reign on the box office as it still manages a second-place finish. Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and Jonah Hill have once again combined forces for another Megazord-like smash.

In this sea of R-rated vulgarity, Balls of Fury could provide some much needed laughs for Christopher Walken impersonators everywhere. Death Sentence should appeal to NRA members, Saw fans, and people that enjoy playing 'The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.' Finally, The Bourne Ultimatum will entice viewers into forgetting that they already saw the film, so they'll have to go see it again to figure out their past. Bourne is America's favorite lovable amnesiac, after all!

See you next week for some 3:10 to Yuma action!