Okay, gang. I've held dinky little contests to see which TV WORTH WATCHING reader comes closest to the opening-weekend box-office totals for the TV-to-movie versions of Sex and the City and Get Smart. Now it's time for the third and final small-to-big-screen effort of the summer, and another guessing game -- this time with The X-Files.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens Friday, and once again, I'm offering some piece of TV-related junk from my office floor to the reader who, in true game-show fashion, comes closest to guessing the opening-weekend grosses without going over. I'll accept guesses until, say, noon ET Friday, so you have two days to place your (free) bets.
I've been really close on my own guesses for both Sex and the City and Get Smart, but X-Files: I Want to Believe poses a formidable challenge. First, I Want to Believe it's going to do well. I loved the original series (most of it, anyway), and Frank Spotnitz, who co-wrote the new movie with Chris Carter, is a friend, so I'm rooting for him.
On the minus side, the Fox series began in 1993, and ended in 2002. For many of today's teen moviegoers, The X-Files is such ancient TV history, it may as well be The Outer Limits. The first movie version was released in 1998, and earned just over $30 million on its opening weekend, on the way to an overall U.S. take of approximately $83.9 million. Not exactly blockbusters.
On the plus side, sequels often outpace the totals for the originals, and the mammoth opening-weekend totals for larger-than-life action films this summer suggest there may be a big appetite for anything in the fantasy realm, and advance interest in I Want to Believe suggests that it may qualify as a have-to-see-on-opening-weekend movie event.
So let's see. Sex and the City earned $56.8 million on opening weekend (I guessed $55 million), and Get Smart earned $38.7 million (I guessed $40 million). I'm going to place my bet for the new X-Files movie as significantly higher than the first film's take, but less than I guessed for Sex, because The Dark Knight is still out there. Put me down for $50 million, even.
But don't let me influence your own prediction. This is one that could fluctuate wildly either way without surprising me. Dark Knight momentum could carry over to another weekend action film (holy synergy, Batman!), and shoot the new X-Files film to stratospheric totals. Or not.
So place your bets. And, I recommend, place your order: The new two-disc X-Files: Revelations set is out, collecting eight terrific episodes that serve as a primer, and a reminder, of the X-Files core characters and issues -- without all the mythology thrown in to distract.
You get the 1993 pilot episode, the 1994 episode that introduced the ultra-creepy Flukeman, the 1995 episode featuring Peter Boyle in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," and lots more. There's even a coupon offering up to $8.50 off the price of a ticket to see I Want to Believe. All by itself, that may be more valuable than the prize I'm offering.
You can order X-Files: Revelations here... but don't forget to post, and explain, your box-office guesses.