Weekend offers a "Race" to the summer finish line

By Carl DiOrio LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Box-office grosses will start to fade this weekend as inevitably as a summer tan. The comparable period from 2007 rung up less than $109 million, the second-smallest tally of the box-office season. A similarly underwhelming industry performance is likely this weekend, even with four new titles hitting the marketplace in wide release. Still, one of the market entrants is well positioned to capture the flag of the summer's penultimate box-office session, thanks to relatively weak competition from new releases and holdovers alike. "Death Race," Universal's remake of the 1975 thriller "Death Race 2000," will try to go for the gold -- supported primarily by young male moviegoers -- with a bow in the mid- to high-teen millions. DreamWorks/Paramount's R-rated comedy "Tropic Thunder"... [read full story]