THE MARKET: “Journey to the Center of the Earth” goes into wide release on Friday, July 11, 2008. How much will it gross in its opening weekend as first reported by Variety on July 13? Each dollar of the share price represents millions of dollars in sales. Shares bought at $45, for example, would be worth $78 if the movie grosses $78 million. Trading closes on July 11 at 9 a.m. ET.
THE DATA: Brendan Fraser should have a hit on his hands this summer with the third “Mummy” movie. Maybe that’s why he decided to make “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” The last adaptation of a 19th century sci-fi novel to hit the big screen was “The Time Machine,” which grossed just over $22 million its opening weekend. In fairness to “Journey,” the box office for “The Time Machine” was likely hamstrung by the fact that it was terrible. Fraser’s career hasn’t always been so stellar either (See: “Dudley Do-Right.”)
OUR TAKE: The first warning sign: film adaptation of a famous novel. The second warning sign: 3-D special effects. The original director, Paul Chart, left because of the 3-D effects, and the new director, Eric Brevig, is an effects specialist who reworked the script to better showcase his talents. 3-D sounds cool at first, but a movie that relies so heavily on gimmicks seems like a journey not worth taking.

LEARN MORE:
See the