I had high hopes for News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) remake of one of my favorite sci-fi films from the 50s, The Day the Earth Stood Still. I'm not sure what everyone else was thinking, but I figured the film would take in at least $50 million at the opening weekend.

Unfortunately, according to early estimates at Boxofficemojo, Earth could only scare up around $31 million in its first three days at domestic theaters. In fact, compared to last year's I Am Legend from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), which came out at about the same time, and was another remake of a famous cult sci-fi flick as well, it performed poorly as Legend, starring Will Smith, grossed $77 million in its debut weekend.

Keanu Reeves starred as the alien Klaatu in Earth. One has to wonder how the box-office dynamic would have changed if Will Smith was in the role. Of course, maybe the movie would have been more expensive to make (although I'm sure Reeves doesn't come cheap, either). I heard great word on the remake from a friend of mine who saw it over the weekend on an IMAX (NASDAQ: IMAX) screen and really enjoyed it. He was a bit surprised when I suggested that the film only pulled in around $30 million.