Douglas, Affleck Headline New Flicks
Two leading men from different generations have big films opening, Early Show Contributor Laurie Hibberd explains in her weekend marquee report.
Michael Douglas' career has lasted more than 30 years. He is Hollywood's A-list and has a producing and an acting Oscar, In less than five years, Ben Affleck has won an Oscar for writing and is a star on the rise.
They have two very different films opening in theaters this weekend that may or may not be good for their careers.
Douglas has made his mark with movies such as Wall Street and A Perfect Murder.
In his new film Wonder Boys, Douglas plays an unkempt writer and college professor who spends an entire weekend trying to keep his life from falling apart. It's a performance that will win him raves, but may leave female fans a bit wanting.
Some might say he doesn't look glamorous or polished as he did in A Perfect Murder; he looks serious.
The departure is a risk that Douglas can afford to take. He's very well-liked in Hollywood and his movies consistently open well at the box office. It's a good time for him to stretch his acting muscle.
Observes Entertainment Weekly's Jess Cagle, "I don't expect Wonder Boys to be a big hit because it's a very dialogue-driven movie. It's a smart movie...but it's going to give him a lot of credibility because it's a very fine performance."
While Douglas has an established body of work, Affleck is still building his, and the commercial appeal of Reindeer Games can only help.
"It seems Ben Affleck really wants to do action. And if this movie does well, he's going to get a lot more opportunities to sort of be seen as an action hero," Cagle says.
But in order to be more than an action hero, Affleck needs to prove he can open a film. Reindeer Games is the first movie that rides solely on the strength of his name. There's no Matt Damon or Sandra Bullock.
"He is the star of Reindeer Games. He's got Charlize Theron as his co-star. But I mean this is a very male movie with Ben Affleck at the top, and so he needs it to do well," Cagle adds.
If it does do well, it may put him on the road to career longevity - a road Douglas knows very well.
In Reindeer Games, Affleck plays an ex-con trying to go straight. Whether this movie sinks or swims, he won't face the same pressure with this film as Leonardo DiCaprio did with the recent opening of The Beach, some say. He already has two more movies in the can. Affleck wasn't paid $20 million for it and he didn't star in the biggest movie there ever was (Titanic).