The Fourth of July holiday weekend is traditionally a box office bonanza. That's why Hollywood always adds a couple days to an already long weekend.
The official holiday is next Friday, but three high-profile releases are debuting Wednesday for maximum ticket sales opportunities. Much of the attention is being paid to Arnold Schwarzenegger's long-awaited sequel, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, in which Ah-nold plays another super-cyborg sent back in time to protect the future savior of humanity, John Connor (now played by Nick Stahl since Edward Furlong went AWOL from show biz). This time around, the Terminator may meet his match in T-X (Kristanna Loken), an upgraded model dressed to kill. A full review of T3 - all sci-fi titles are abbreviated by geeks these days - will appear Wednesday on Page 2B.
Also opening Wednesday, and another formidable competitor for Schwarzenegger, is Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. Witherspoon became a movie star whose face is all a poster needs to seal a movie after the original film. This time, her fashion-conscious character Elle Woods takes her Harvard law degree to Washington to crusade for animal rights, especially those of her accessorized chihuahua.
Another new movie featuring a hero with a cute canine sidekick is Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. Brad Pitt voices the swashbuckling role in an animated version from DreamWorks, which appears to be biding time with this film and last year's Spirit: Stallone of the Cimarron before Shrek 2 makes a bundle next summer. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer - at least their voices - co-star as Sinbad's love interest and nemesis, respectively. Look for full reviews of Legally Blonde 2 and Sinbad in Tuesday's Floridian section. Then sit back and watch the fireworks at the box office.
