Cold shoulder to the critics

Around Hollywood, it’s called a “cold opening,” and indeed the last few weeks of summer have felt a distinct chill.

Three of the last four Fridays have seen studios engage in a kind of end-of-summer clearance in advance of the fall arrivals. Four movies have opened without advance press screenings. Although that strategy doesn’t always mean a movie is a stinker, it usually means the studio is convinced that pre-opening exposure from critics won’t do a film any good.

This weekend, Twentieth Century Fox’s “Paparazzi” and Lions Gate’s “The Cookout” arrived in theaters without being shown to critics, as Fox’s “Alien vs. Predator” and Warner Bros.’ “Exorcist: The Beginning” did last month.

A decision to go with a so-called “cold opening” is usually made within a month of the release, after the film has been shown to a test audience. If a film is likely to get negative or middling reviews -- between one and three stars out of 10 -- the thinking is that it may be wiser to withhold the film from press scrutiny.

“Sometimes you’ll hear that no prints are available, but that’s generally a smokescreen,” a former studio production chief says. “It’s a lose-lose situation, because you’re foreshadowing negativity -- sending a smelly signal to the world that showing your movie hurts more than helps. It’s all about cutting your losses, though you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Gross-out comedies and horror films, as genres, tend to be more immune to a thumbs-down from critics because the target audience pays more attention to trailers and other advertising than to reviews.

Other times, a studio assumes it is better to sell as many tickets as possible before audiences get a whiff of negative critical opinion, Internet buzz or word-of-mouth.

Besides, they always seem to ferret out a critic somewhere to quote in ads.

The truly dicey part for studios is telling the director. Filmmakers who have a good relationship with the studio may be part of the discussion, but the distributor almost always has the final word.

“ ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ would probably have taken in less on opening weekend had the reviews beaten it to the screen -- and ‘Alien vs. Predator’ is doing pretty well,” says the former production chief. “Though it’s always possible that a studio screws up, they made the right choice in this case.”

How new and recent unpreviewed movies have fared:

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“Paparazzi”

Mel Gibson’s onetime hairdresser directs a revenge fantasy for celebrities in which a hounded movie star exacts payback from an unsavory ring of tabloid photographers.

Premiere: Friday

Opening weekend gross: $7.85 million

Total to date: $7.85 million

The studio says: Fox declined to comment.

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“The Cookout”

Moving up in the world and into a ritzy neighborhood, a young NBA star grapples with newfound wealth as his mom’s folksy family cookout alarms the snobs next door and a couple of hoodlums crash the party.

Premiere: Friday

Opening weekend gross: $6.1 million

Total to date: $6.1 million

The studio says: Lions Gate declined to comment.

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“Alien vs. Predator”

A team of scientists discover an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica, stumbling upon two iconic movie monsters locked in mortal combat. It’s pretty silly but has succeeded as genre fare.

Premiere: Aug. 13

Opening weekend gross: $38.3 million

Total to date: $80 million

The studio says: Fox declined to comment.

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“Exorcist: The Beginning”

This troubled prequel to the 1973 original was rewritten, reshot, reedited and released a year after an earlier director turned in his version.

Premiere: Aug. 20

Opening weekend gross: $18.1 million

Total to date: $38.1 million

The studio says: Warner Bros. declined to comment.

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Box Office

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Jet Li’s Chinese martial-arts epic “Hero” relegated four new movies to the nether regions of the box office in what ended up as one of the most feeble Labor Day weekends in memory.

“Hero” ranked No. 1 by collecting an estimated $11.5 million over the four-day holiday, which is traditionally a slow time at movie theaters as many people try to enjoy their last big summer weekend outdoors.

But this one was particularly slow.

“Talk about ending the summer with a whimper,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. “This is the lowest-grossing No. 1 film of the year, and one of the lowest grossing Labor Day weekends that I’ve ever seen.”

The total $35.3-million haul for “Hero” is still excellent for a critically acclaimed Mandarin-language epic about ancient China that sat on a shelf for nearly three years before being released in the United States.

It’s the competition that proved to be lacking.

Four movies debuted in theaters this week: the Josh Hartnett romantic thriller “Wicker Park”; the Mel Gibson-produced “Paparazzi,” about overzealous celebrity photographers; Reese Witherspoon’s take on the 19th century class-warfare novel “Vanity Fair”; and the hip-hop comedy “The Cookout.” All had lackluster showings.

The box office numbers are preliminary results based on studio projections.

Associated Press

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*--* Movie 4-day gross Total (millions)

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*--* Hero $11.5 $35.3

Without a Paddle 9.4 40.2

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid 8.0 23.9

Paparazzi 7.9 7.9

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement 7.3 85.3

Wicker Park 6.8 6.8

Collateral 6.5 88.9

Vanity Fair 6.1 7.3

The Cookout 6.1 6.1

The Bourne Supremacy 5.4 165

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Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.