The Weekend Preview, Issue 3: Seven Super Days

Work before play, business before pleasure. The Dow closed at 10,973.56, the NASDAQ at 2,111.84, and the S&P 500 closed Wednesday's session at 1246.00. There. We can have fun now.

What happens when you premiere big films on a Wednesday, when there's a extra-long holiday weekend that runs through Tuesday? You get a seven-day opening weekend! (Only in Hollywood could you count seven days as a weekend.) While we applaud the return of the great American comic book icon, Superman, we can't help but feel that Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada, a Cruella De Vil-type fashion overlord, feels slightly more charismatic than the stoic man from Krypton. Here's what each new film is about:

Superman Returns - Once upon a time, Kal-El was sent to earth after his planet died. Thanks to Earth's yellow sun, Kal-El can do magical things that only computer-generated graphics designers could think of. But that was too much for this Superman, so he left Earth for about five years. And since Metropolis apparently doesn't have an effective police department, crime rises, and Lex Luthor breaks out of prison on his continual quest to be evil. ("Female Plot Device," aka Lois Lane fits in there somewhere.) But for some reason, Superman decides to return to Metropolis. And then Lex Luthor becomes more evil. Superman Returns is now playing in theaters.

The Devil Wears Prada - As we hinted to before, this film basically revolves around Cruella De Vil, only without that annoying Dalmatian plotline. (The real Cruella is pictured to the right.) This time around, she's known as Miranda Priestly, the most powerful woman in fashion. No one can survive working for this fickle, heartless boss. But then Anne Hathaway comes along and melts Meryl Streep's heart! (Oh, like I seriously spoiled the movie for you.) De Vil tries to ruin Lacky's life, but Lacky won't have any of it; she's persistent. Mainly because she's got a supporting role in this movie, so Anne Hathaway can do whatever she wants; she's getting a good paycheck out of this one. Soon, Lacky has a choice to make: Stay blonde and clueless, or live life as Cruella De Vil. Whatever she chose in the book, I'm guessing they switched it around for the movie. The Devil Wears Prada opens on Friday, June 30th.

So which film does well at the box office this holiday weekend? If you guessed The Devil Wears Prada, you need to get out of the Gucci store more often. The hands-down favorite is Superman, who if anything can make the comic book geeks see the film 30 times by the time the "7-day weekend" is over. It may bring in $200 million over the first week, but only 8-thousand individuals have to see it! For Fri-Sun, we expect Superman Returns to bring in a healthy $75-80 million. De Vil Without Puppies will probably bring in $20-25 during the same amount of time.

Due to the holiday weekend, Weekends will be slightly different. If they're available, we'll still use the estimated Friday-Sunday numbers for the Box Office and publish on-schedule. Then, we'll publish the full holiday income during next week's Weekend Preview. At least, that's the plan. Barring an attack from Lex Luthor himself, we're hoping to stay right on schedule this weekend.