TAKE IT TO THE BANK (And Be Sure to Get Your Free Toaster)
You might need a co-signer to afford them, but these films will bring home the bacon.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Nov. 7) — Sequels are everywhere, yes, and we might complain about it and beg for original ideas, but look at this from the studio's viewpoint. As long as you keep making lots money with sequels, is there any reason to not keep making them? And since 2005's Madagascar brought home an impressive haul of $193 million, of course DreamWorks would want to capitalize on that popularity and make another film. All that aside, Escape 2 Africa is being released on the first weekend in November, a slot that, over the past few years, has been a very friendly one for animated films — Bee Movie ($126 million), Chicken Little ($135 million), The Incredibles ($261 million). And though they don't have quite the impeccable track record of Pixar, DreamWorks's animated films have been very successful in their own right. Bee Movie, Shark Tale ($160 million), Over the Hedge ($155 million) and, most recently, Kung Fu Panda ($125 million and counting) should be a pretty good indicator of what Escape 2 Africa is capable of.

Quantum of Solace (Nov. 7) — The new James Bond movie will face stiff competition in the form of Escape 2 Africa (or is the other way around?), but Casino Royale also opened against an animated behemoth — Happy Feet —  and it still managed a $40 million opening weekend and a total take of $167 million. And though Happy Feet made more money in the long run, Casino Royale also had very strong legs, earning 14 Top 5 points — not bad at all. I think a similar performance will happen here — it will be a battle for the top spot on the weekend of Nov. 7, but Solace and Madagascar are geared towards different enough audiences that each can do well without harming the other. Though there hasn't been much Solace on the set, what with a few stuntman accidents and even Daniel Craig himself sustaining a minor injury, that'll have no effect on the movie's performance. Quantum of Solace is the first Bond film not to be adapted from an Ian Fleming book, but the script was handled by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, and director Marc Forster is a Bond veteran; the movie's still in good hands.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Nov. 21) — The highest opening weekend for any of the Potter films was tallied by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over a Thanksgiving holiday; expect another giant weekend from the boy wizard come November. The Harry Potter films are one of the most profitable/highest grossing franchises of all time (third, actually, just behind Star Wars and James Bond, at $1.4 billion; and that's just in the United States!) and the locomotive to Hogwarts shows no sign of slowing down with the latest installment. Is it any wonder that so many other studios have been beating the bushes to find "the next Harry Potter?" Half-Blood Prince will have darker, more mature themes, but a major plus for Warner Bros. is that the core audience (and biggest fans) of the books are getting older too — a PG-13, as the last two films have shown, is still more than family friendly enough for big business. $250 million is pretty much guaranteed, especially with the small dropoffs it'll have as a result of the holiday season.

Bolt (Nov. 26) — Disney just debuted some of the first footage from this movie, and I'm going to guess that the first trailer will appear in front of WALL-E next week. It'll be a big holiday hit for many reasons. For starters, it's being released in 3D — that alone is enough, perhaps, to intrigue more people into seeing it. It's under the Disney name, and they rarely miss. I wouldn't bet against them, especially with a family-friendly film at Thanksgiving. (Remeber how well Enchanted did last year?) If that weren't enough, one of the animated stars is voiced by someone most Moguls should be very familiar with, especially after this past February — yep, Hannah Montana herself, Miley Cyrus. Normally the voice talent of animated films isn't a huge factor in drawing people to theaters, and while it still won't be huge here, I think Cyrus's presence is enough to boost the totals by a small amount — certainly more than, say, Escape 2 Africa will benefit from people going because they're Ben Stiller or Chris Rock fans.

TAKE IT TO THE COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION (And Be Sure to Get Your Free Ice Cream Scoop)
Won't use up as much of your Moguls money, but huge returns are not guaranteed.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Oct. 3) — Before an angry mob floods my inbox questioning how I can recommend a movie that looks so terrible, let me explain myself. There isn't much family fare on the schedule between The Longshots in late August (which won't be a runaway success) and the onslaught of Taco Bell dogs in October. The animated Igor comes out just two weeks before Chihuahua, but MGM is handling that, and you know how they enjoy playing musical chairs with release dates. Not to mention, Igor is also pretty low profile, at least as of yet. Much like Bee Movie benefited from a distinct scarcity of family fare last fall, the same may hold true for Chihuahua, terrible as it may look. Besides, Disney films sell well, no matter how awful they might be — The Shaggy Dog, The Pacifier, Underdog, The Game Plan, College Road Trip. See a pattern? I'm not saying Chihuahua will come out of nowhere and be a surprise $100 million blockbuster, but it will make a decent amount of money (to the dismay of many) for an October film. Keep in mind, too, that it was originally scheduled for a Game Plan-esque end-of-September date before being pushed to October.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Oct. 24) — This will be the fall's Hannah Montana — although perhaps a little higher profile. High School Musical 2 broke cable TV viewing records, and the soundtracks to both of the first two High School Musical movies sold like hotcakes. The first film's soundtrack was, in fact, the No. 1 selling recording in the United States for 2006. With such off-the-charts performance, it's no wonder Disney decided to release the third installment theatrically. It'll act as good counter-programming to Saw V and Quarantine for families and young uns, and Zac Efron's legions of screaming-themselves-hoarse fans will show up en masse. Heck, even some older men might make an appearance hoping for more hijinks/scandalous clothing (or lack thereof) from Vanessa Hudgens. (Although with the squeaky clean image Disney will project with this movie, there won't be anything racy in the film.) Once again, as unbearable as we might think it'll be, it's from Disney, and their projects always do well.

Seven Pounds (Dec. 12) — As it gets closer to December, I have a feeling this won't exactly be under-the-radar anymore. It reunites The Pursuit of Happyness director Gabrielle Muccino with box office cash cow Will Smith in another inspirational drama. (I'd repeat Will Smith's track record, but I've done so enough times that I think you get the picture by now.) Released around Christmas, in just about the same spot Happyness locked down two years ago, this stands to generate similar numbers. The Christmas season is all about families at the movies, and feel-good stories that warm your heart — so Seven Pounds is a perfect film to release during the holidays. Smith plays an IRS agent guilt-ridden over mistakes from his past. Deciding he must make amends, he sets out to help seven strangers, among them Rosario Dawson (as a woman afflicted by a heart condition) and Woody Harrelson (as a blind pianist). I've heard some speculation — and admittedly, it's still early — that this might net Smith his third Oscar nomination. Only time will tell, but in any case, Seven Pounds is one to look out for in future seasons.

The Spirit (Dec. 25) — After the success of Sin City and 300, Frank Miller adaptations are almost a guaranteed hit. (To be fair, this is a Frank Miller screenplay from a Will Eisner graphic novel, but the genre is still the same.) While almost everything released during the Christmas season has to be family-friendly in order to be successful, every once in a while an R-rated niche film manages to make a dent. For example, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem managed a not-too-shabby $41 million last year, and I think The Spirit will make more. It should be the exception, an R-rated film in December that doesn't flame out because it doesn't have enough holiday cheer. The final rating, actually, may not even be R. The content of the original comic book series the movie is based on is far less sordid than Sin City, so keep an eye out for a PG-13 that could potentially raise the ceiling on earnings. The fact that Lionsgate moved the release to Christmas from the wasteland of January shows that they have some confidence in the final product, perhaps that the buzz is starting to build. And with Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes playing femmes fatale, along with an ensemble cast including Samuel L. Jackson (as the big villain) and Paz Vega, The Spirit might find more success than you'd expect.

TAKE IT TO ONE OF THOSE PAYDAY LOAN PLACES (And Be Sure to Check Your Pockets on the Way Out)
Instead of spending it here, why not just light your money on fire?

Sex Drive (Oct. 10) — Yay, another raunchy comedy. Those generally don't do well unless they are produced/directed/written by Judd Apatow, and he is nowhere near this one. You probably haven't heard of much of the cast. The most noteworthy name is James Marsden, but he's not even the lead. Otherwise you're left with Katrina Bowden (Cerie from 30 Rock, so not a complete unknown, but this is her first effort on the silver screen) and Josh Zuckerman, who is probably most famous for playing "Young Dr. Evil" in the last Austin Powers film. Sex Drive is currently one of five wide releases on October 10th, and its competition is no cakewalk — City of Ember, House of Lies and even The Express. Distributor Summit Entertainment hasn't exactly had a lot of success with their films either. Summit's biggest hit to date is Never Back Down, so that's another reason you'll probably want to avoid putting this on your slate.

Quarantine (Oct. 17) — Early reports/rumors/buzz have called this film the next Cloverfield. I wouldn't exactly say that's a good thing — if it's basically just copying the plot point of amateur video as the only evidence of some catastrophe, are people really going to be that interested? It may have the same handheld camera style of filming, but it doesn't have J.J. Abrams's marketing genius behind it, and if it's trying to be gory for the Halloween crowd, well, the tried-and-true Saw franchise presents its next installment just a week later. 30 Days of Night attempted the same thing last year, and it worked to some degree, but Quarantine is a much lesser opponent. It's also from Screen Gems, which, I'll be honest, doesn't ever make good movies. Screen Gems is basically the "dump" arm of Sony; when they've got a turd, that's the name they put it under: Ultraviolet, When a Stranger Calls, Prom Night and The Covenant are four examples. Now, some of those may have made decent money, but that doesn't mean they weren't bad. Even if you have the hunch that this movie may follow in the illustrious footsteps of, say, Prom Night, I say don't Quarantine yourself come October.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Oct. 31) — You know, I like Seth Rogen as an actor, and Elizabeth Banks ain't too bad herself. But I've got to say that this film's recently released teaser did not strike me as even remotely funny. Kevin Smith is more of a cult director, so while many Moguls might be looking forward to Zack and Miri, keep in mind that we pay a lot more attention to film than average moviegoers. They might not be quite so interested; heck, a lot of people will probably see the word "porno" in the title and write the movie off right there. Yeah, Clerks is a classic, but none of Smith's movies have ever made more than $30 million. I think that the expectations for this film will be too high, perhaps both on the part of the Fantasy Moguls pricing gurus and in the optimism of people banking on it to bolster their slate. Don't be one of those foolish optimists.

Twilight (Dec. 12) — If any pick in this column is a shocker, it's this one. I know there's already incredible hype about this movie. I know that the novel is insanely popular. I know a lot of people think star Robert Pattinson is dreamy. But I still just don't think Twilight will be a breakout hit. I still haven't seen anything out of distributor Summit Entertainment (sorry guys, have to rip on you twice in one column) that leaves me with much confidence in them. And Twilight opens against some hefty competition — Seven Pounds and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The mega-successful book series gets lobbed into that "next Harry Potter" conversation almost as a matter of course. In the case of this movie, however, the next Harry Potter — Half-Blood Prince, don't forget — will actually have come out  just a few weeks prior. So don't expect the marketers to lean on that button. Plus, last winter's The Golden Compass was supposed to be the next Harry Potter/the next Lord of the Rings, and we all know how well that turned out. I'm calling my shot: There's just no way Twilight will live up to its hype.

Next week I'll take a perhaps painful look back at a few of my biggest recent mistakes — I'll explain the foolish choice I made, what made me regret it, and what I should have done instead. Until then, good luck!

Mister Informative is raising the ceiling on his Beverly Hills Chihuahua prediction if he finds out that the actual Taco Bell dog is starring in the movie. Because that would be like making a movie called Beverly Hills Gecko, and then have the gecko from GEICO be the star. Hey, maybe the AFLAC duck would do Beverly Hills Duck, too — that duck is hilarious, and he was already in the Lemony Snicket movie. Hop aboard the next sure-thing franchise by sending your own ideas to misterinformative@gmail.com.