Please? I just simple must know what you guys think.

Kung-Fu Hustle? Holy Girl? The Russian Dolls (Tautau is a big factor here)?

Will Martial Arts reign supreme again?????

Oh it will probably some movie about Welsh villagers doing something publicly embarassing for a good cause. Is there one of those on tap this year?

The Boy who Cried.

Okay I made it up!

Saw II. Is that considered an import?

Nah, I think only something actually shot in foreign language counts.

I'd guess Kung-Fu Hustle, but the year is young and there might be some surprises.

Actually, no, I completely forgot about Myazaki's latest. It could pull it off. Howl's Moving Castle, that is.

On second thought, I think Howl's Moving Castle might take the cake. But even Spirited Away only made 10 million, and there's usually at least one foreign film that makes near 20.


Edit** We both thought of that one at the same time after you made that typo in your first post, otherwise, I would have never remembered it. Thanks for confusing Hustle and Castle.

High Tension....

I think it will be between Howl's Moving Castle and Kung Fu Hustle. I hope it will be Moving Castle as i'm looking forward to that more.

hwy is Bale credited for Howl's moving castle?

Kung Fu Hustle.

I think Howl's Moving Castle and High Tension have the best change. Kung Fu Hustle will flop, and the trailers look like shit.

He's probably is the main characters voice in the dubbing. interesting fact, I believe Anna Paquin actually did the voice for the main boy, Ray, in Steamboy. That underperformed considering the director/animation studio did Akira, which has a huge following here. I don't know what Steamboy is at right now, but it's clearly out of the running. Surprisingly weak year for foreign films, it looks like the number one is going to gross less than at least third or fourth did in 2004. Geisha stole attention, even though its not technically a foreign movie.

So its between Howl's, Kung-fu, and High Tension? Where's high tension from? I've never heard of it. Where the hell did Europe go? Fell off the face of the planet?

I'll go with Kung Fu Hustle. It is 1) funny 2) fresh 3) put out by a company Sony that has had several successes this year in marketing movies towards an urban and black audience and martial arts are really popular in those communities. Plus it's the only foreign movie that I've seen an ad for in the last 2 years that I really want to see, it simply looks very entertaining.

Lecter is right that the year is still young and the unexpected can happen but that is my pick.

Definitely not "The holy girl". Far too arty.

I´d say something we don´t know about yet - and probably to be released at Cannes... High tension has a chance, but being subtitled... I don´t know.

Here is some of the possible Cannes films: http://www.worldofkj.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6648.

I'd go with Kung-Fu Hustle. If that fails, then High Tension (unless there's something else big that none of us know about at the end of the year, but I doubt it)

Great typos think alike

I am not sure about High Tension, but I am pretty upset that the studio cut the movie for release.

Well, just read mansonmyers thread in cinemania about High Tension, and I have to say no way in hell will it be the number one grosser. Not because it might not be good, but its horror. Maybe we'll see horror fans strike down the door of the subtitling world, but its not going to get the same pull, especially with all the apparently good hollywood horror coming out.

I have to say, I have a feeling it might go to Hustle and that leaves me with two dissappointments. Not that it might not be good, I'm going to try and see it soon to get a review in, and critics are liking it so far, but that its so early in the year. Seems odd for the highest grossing import to be wrapping up its run by July. Nothing to look forward to, especially before the Oscars.

The other reason is that even if its well loved and pretty popular, I don't see it breaking 15 million. That's a really low year for imports, where the highest one peaks at 15 million. Passion was 300 million, now admittedly, that's weird, and for my own sanity, i discount that, but even after that, Hero made 53 million, Motorcycle made nearly 17 million, MOFD made 11 million, and a Very Long Engagement made 6 million.

This is looking like a year with one 12-15 million movie and one 7-8 million (Howl's). Eh, looks skimpy. There must be something getting released in October or later that is going to grab a bit of attention. i just can't figure out which movie it is.

Call me an overpredictor, but I don't see Howl's Moving Castle making any less than $15 million. The first one was dumped by the studio and recovered too late once the Oscar praise came. I hope this one will be marketed well and receive a fairlywide release right away.

Yeah, well SPirited Away pulled in only 10 million considering how big an upset in the awards it was. Its generated tons of WOM since then, and probably had massively high rental and dvd purchase. Disproportionately high for a 10 million box office grosser. I wonder if there is some way of checking that?

The way I see it, especially with Steamboy having not done that well (too bad, anyone that can should check it out for a good time), it will either gross dissappointingly lower than SPirited Away, or maybe you're right. I can't tell if the massive influx of anime into the American market and the huge 3d pixar pics are going to water this one down. SPirited Away was, for many people, the first anime they ever saw. Now they might not be knocking down the front doors opening weekend anymore. But if one director's name can do it, it'll be Miyazaki's. I still don't think Howl's will break 10 million. But I don't know what Hustle will do either. I need to see what opening weekend BO on Hustle is before I decide if it'll take the number one spot.

Dead market this year. :???:

Just to let you guys know, HIGH TENSION is dubbed, not subtitled for the US version.

Hey, Dolce, check out this trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searc ... large.html

Night Watch is the biggest movie of all time in Russia currently and the trailer makes it out to be a pretty good fantasy actioner with quite a couple of money shots. I think it can gross quite a sum in the States if marketed well.

Gah!!!! I can't watch these apple trailers on my comp. I'm missing some of the software and when I go to download it, I can't because my operating platform is too old (yes, this is an old laptop...I'm getting a newer one soon).

I saw the poster, looks like another horror movie. Is it? if so, it won't do any better than High Tension. I just don't see foreign horror breaking into the big numbers here. it didn't work with I'm Not Scared last year, and if there is one market Americans trust with horror its the Italians. If its an action movie, maybe it has better chances. It might break 5 million, but remember, even Engagement, which was a drama with the most famous French actress today only got 6 million.

Gah, I want to know more about this movie. I haven't seen much in the way of Russian flicks, and have no idea how well they're been received here in the Box Office. I think Russian Arc (which is the last one I saw) only made about 3 million, but it was a very different movie. Still, it had its pull here, being the longest uneditted shot, and having the entire caste of hundreds (thousands?).

It's as much of a horror flick as Underworld and Blade are. It's horror action with eye candy visual effects. Moreover it is distributed by Fox Serachlight which has a decent record actually.

I have no clue about the reception of Russian flicks at the US box-office, but I doubt it has been too warm. As for A Very Long Engagement, the distributor simply messed up the release pattern of the movie, something that has been done to many movies last year. I think it had the full potential to make $10+ million.