Here we go again…it’s another mid-week Wednesday, and once again we have another movie opening mid-week.
I don’t understand the thinking behind this whole new trend at all. I addressed it last week in the post entitled The Rocker Mid-Week Opening and here I go writing about the same thing again this week. For some reason studios have decided a mid-week opening for a new movie release is the thing to do. The mid-week opening is no longer reserved for guaranteed box office smash movies. Instead, it now seems to be turning into the throw-away-day.
Last week the greatly panned The Rocker opened mid-week. As predicted, it bombed. I was surprised to see Tropic Thunder at the number one spot again. But, in retrospect, it narrowly beat out the debut of The House Bunny which landed in second place with $15.1 million dollars. Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder pulled in $16.1 million. Aside from The House Bunny, the Rated-R flick Death Race debuted in the number three spot with $12.3 million dollars. The Longshots, a third movie which debuted last weekend, landed in the number eight spot with slightly more than $4 million dollars. The Rocker, which tried to get a jump on the weekend numbers, didn’t even crack the top 10.
So, here we are on what I might start calling Throw-Away-Wednesday with the lone mid-week opening of a flick called Traitor…
Don Cheadle plays Samir Horn who’s a suspect in an international conspiracy in Traitor which opens nationwide today. Horn is a former U.S. Special Operations officer who becomes the center of an investigation into terrorist activity, but his motives aren’t completely clear. The movie carries a rating of PG-13. But, will it really be suitable for that age group? Will it really matter? Does anyone even know this movie exists? It’s received very little pre-release hype, and if past results are any hint of what will happen at the box office, Traitor will be passed over by many movie-goers as it hits the big screen on throw-away-Wednesday.
About the only thing this movie might have going for it, is the fact that the idea for the movie came from Steve Martin. But, even though Martin is remotely involved in the flick, the only Traitor here could be a movie trying to pass itself off as a box office smash deserving a mid-week opening.
Possibly avoid the show!
Dr. Rus
Dr. Rus has 30+ years experience in the field of communication. He takes this experience, and his passion to encourage others to positively effect their environment, when providing insight and movie reviews. 
