Category: Looking at the Weekend

Horror’s doing pretty well this year while a number of perceived hits have gone down to lesser films. This time, though I think The Internship will have the smell of originality that the stale The Hangover, Part III didn’t possess and will barely eke out a victory. However, watch out for The Purge which also…

In spite of the film being directed by box office pariah M. Night Shyamalan, the studio’s failure to highlight his name in the advertising combined with Will Smith’s legions of fans should provide a hefty opening weekend for the sci-fi spectacle. I’d like to see Now You See Me trounce Smith and Shyamalan, but I…

It’s going to be a contentious weekend at the box office with the animated film surprisingly not in contention for first place. Two storied franchises will duke it out for number one this Memorial Day weekend. On the one hand, you have the sixth entry and the Fast & Furious franchise and on the other,…

There’s little doubt that the sequel to the most successful Star Trek film in history will perform lower than the third week of Iron Man 3. There are two questions about how well its opening weekend goes: will it top its predecessor’s $75 million opening and can it possibly pass $100 million? An opening close…

Neither of this week’s new entries will top the second week of Iron Man, but The Great Gatsby should pique enough interest to become the week’s #1 new movie. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: The excess of Baz Luhrmann is fascinating, though Australia was a bit of a disappointment. The indie side doesn’t have that much…

Robert Downey Jr. will crush all competition. An opening north of $100 million is expected and a higher-than-Avengers total might be possible. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: There are a handful of films this weekend that look interesting, but the first major blockbuster of the year that I’m somewhat excited to see opens. Peter J. Patrick:…

As much as I want Michael Bay to flop, his new film has better visibility and advertising than The Big Wedding, so Bay will gain another #1 opening. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: There are a few interesting pieces due out this weekend with The Reluctant Fundamentalist and An Oversimplification of Her Beauty tops on my…

We only have one new wide release and that’s Tom Cruise starrer Oblivion. It also has Morgan Freeman, so that should make it a fairly sizable hit. Looking back at the last three decades, it’s hard to find a time when Cruise wasn’t a box office draw. While he’s had his downers, they keep coming…

It will be an interesting experiment. The Scary Movie franchise always scored big on opening weekend, yet it’s been far too long since the fourth installment, suggesting it may be a bit sluggish to start. That gives the baseball historical drama 42 a good chance of topping the box office. Ultimately, it could be a…

3D re-releases seldom do enough business to topple films at the box office these days and with curiosity seekers and horror enthusiasts possibly flocking to the remake of cult classic Evil Dead, I have a hard time seeing it as anything but this week’s victor. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: While I think Trance might be…

Can the post-Twilight Stephenie Mayer adaptation The Host live up to her other adaptations? I don’t think there’s as much love and appreciation for that series, but it should open strongly, but not to the level of The Hunger Games. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: There are a lot of interesting films this week, including the…

With no family films in sight for the last few weeks, an animated film from DreamWorks is sure to be a blockbuster even if it’s lackluster. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: Among the wide release films, Admission is the only one with potential to be any good. Several films on the limited release side could be…

Halle Berry versus Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. It’s an unfair competition as Berry has never been a box office draw whereas the other two have. Advertisements for Wonderstone have been far more compelling than those for The Call. While it’s possible both will finish well, Wonderstone is easily the favorite to win the week.…

The endless flogging of Oz the Great and Powerful cements its position as the film to beat this coming weekend. Likely to be a bigger success than the poorly marketed Jack the Giant Slayer, a lot of Oz‘s ultimate success will be on how good it actually is. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: I think Dead…

While advertising alone might suggest that Jack the Giant Slayer will dominate the box office, tracking has so far been weak leaving the sequel to the highly popular possession horror flick The Last Exorcism doesn’t have to be high quality to draw the same audiences back for a stellar opening weekend. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell:…