PUSS IN BOOTS SET TO CLAW ITS WAY TO THE TOP

A swashbuckling cat is likely to lay waste to a host of rivals this weekend, and analysts are expecting it to be rewarded with $35-40 million. DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots, with Antonio Banderas providing the cat’s meow, appears to have little competition for family audiences. (Paramount, which is distributing the film, moved it up one week reportedly to avoid the barrage of family movies due to hit theaters next month.) Also opening wide this weekend are two relatively low-budget “adult” films that are expected to have no better than so-so debuts. The Rum Diary, based on an early novel by gonzo writer Hunter Thompson and starring Johnny Depp, is expected to collect between $9 million and $12 million, while the sci-fi In Time, featuring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, may earn slightly more. In addition, Sony’s buzz-challenged Anonymous is having a limited release in about 250 theaters after exit polls indicated that it was fairly anonymous to most moviegoers, while the critically acclaimed Like Crazy is opening in New York and Los Angeles.