As of this writing, there hasn't been much announced for the first couple of weekends in February.  On Feb. 2, we have Because I Said So, the Diane Keaton mom-com-rom-dram.  (See what I did there? That's my own hipster lingo for any movie about moms that is also a comedy-romance-drama.)  Also opening that day is The Messengers, a horror film starring John Corbett about kids who know more than the adults that take care of them.  Kinda like Baby Geniuses, but intentionally scary. 

Those two films are opening wide, and there are two other films that are opening in limited release those weekends.  Those are The Situation, a war drama, and Unreasonable Man, a documentary released by IFC.

Now, I don't know much about any of these films.  And in my opinion, that's not a good thing.  With less than a month left for these movies to open, it's important to get your name out there and be known.  People don't wait in long lines, pay five times as much for a soda as they can get at their local CVS, or sit in a dark room with strangers who won't shut up to watch movies they've never heard of.

But fear not.  If you're concerned there's nothing opening in February, you can quit your crying.  Because the second weekend of February is chock full of goodies.  Opening on Feb. 9th is a little movie called Hannibal Rising, a prequel to Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs.  Inside word is that the movie is sorely lacking any Jar Jar Binks-esque comic relief.

So to tide you over, Feb. 9 also sees the release of Eddie Murphy's film Norbit.  Murphy's career is definitely on a high note right now with his performance in Dreamgirls, so expect this one to be big.

These are the two films you should focus your attention on when it comes to the Fantasy Moguls game.  I think the Hannibal movie is going to do really well on opening weekend, but it might drop off in coming weeks.  Norbit, on the other hand, is gonna clean house.  There's nothing else opening in the weeks before or after that going to give it much competition, and, like I said earlier, Eddie Murphy is hot again.  Don't believe me?  Just search "Party All the Time" on iTunes.  Even that crappy song is coming back.

Okay, that's it for my first installment of One Month Out.  Remember: Norbit = good.  Hannibal Rising = almost as good. If you can't get your hands on Norbit, thenHannibal Rising  is not a bad second choice.  I'm not saying it's terrible, but there's just too much unknown about it to give it a high recommendation. I do think it will have a big opening weekend.  After that, you're on your own.

Ronald Banks has no interest in seeing movies that star Diane Keaton, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo and Mandy Moore. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Tell him why he should change his mind at Ronald@fantasymoguls.com.