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For the weekend of August 2 to August 4, 1996
Pick 'Em: The Ultimate Box-Office Challenge
This Week's Game | Last Week's Results | How To Play

This Week's Game

Pint-Sized Phenomenon

Pick 'em correctly, and win official movie posters!

There's a new, egalitarian, balance of power at the box office this weekend. A Time To Kill has deposed the oppressive Independence Day regime and opened up box-office opportunities for those smaller films that won't gross gazillions of dollars, but might carve out a decent-sized niche in the right situation. This weekend, Matilda star Mara Wilson befuddles everyone with mysterious powers we haven't seen since, well, Phenomenon , while Keanu Reeves (a little chubbier than we remember him) goes on the lam from those meddling government agents in Chain Reaction . If that isn't enough to muddle your powers of prognostication, consider also that the British smack, er, smash hit Trainspotting will add 150 screens this weekend, and might just become a force to be reckoned with. Reckon carefully though, because, as always, the winners will take home official movie posters.


The Ballot
Before making your selections, you'll want to peruse the vital data
on all of this weekend's box-office contenders .

Featured Matchup:
Phenomenon (+$3.3 million) vs. Matilda

Sure, Phenomenon is old news by now, but this is a matchup we just couldn't pass up. See, in Matilda (based on the Roald Dahl novel) Mara Wilson plays a budding genius who has mysterious telekinetic powers; in Phenomenon, John Travolta plays a sudden genius who has mysterious telekinetic powers. Which freak will have more influence over the box office? Well, Travolta's film has been a phenomenon indeed, earning $6.3 million last weekend, its fourth. But as a new release, Matilda clearly has an advantage. We've set the spread at $3.3 million. Can little Mara (with the aid of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman ) cover that?

Matilda will defeat Phenomenon by more than $3.3 million.

Phenomenon will either defeat Matilda at the box office, or lose the matchup by less than $3.3 million.

Predict the weekend's top 5 movies:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


Predict the amount of money the No.1 movie will gross this weekend:
$ million



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