TAKE IT TO THE BANKS - THE FILMS OF 3/16, 3/18

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Quick question: is Allegiant the worst reviewed film of Jeff Daniels' career?

Not quite. Gods and Generals got worse reviews.

Dumb & Dumber To, as well. Probably.

[Shrykespeare]

Friday Estimates:

Allegiant, $11.9M
Zootopia, $9.6M
Miracles From Heaven, $4.1M
10 Cloverfield Lane, $3.7M
Deadpool, $2.2M
London Has Fallen, $1.9M


Weekend Projections:
Zootopia, $40M
Allegiant, $29M
Miracles From Heaven, $12.3M
10 Cloverfield Lane, $10.7M
Deadpool, $8.1M
London Has Fallen, $6.6M
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, $2.6M
Brothers Grimsby, $1.3M
Risen, $1.1M
Gods of Egypt, $1M


PTA:
Midnight Special, $38K
Zootopia, $10K

[W]

Yeah, these -ant movies are pretty bad. Ike someone had a Hunger Games dream that made no sense then woke up in the middle to take a crap and then wrote down what they remembered. Even suspending every reality imaginable it's hard to see how someone actually wrote this. I think they just used a sci-fi randomizer for every fifth word.

It's sad because I've seen Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley do some great stuff and they have to do four of these things. Teller's got a little of that Harrison Ford quip and the only decent thing in this new one (I seriously can't remember which -ant/ent it is) are two or three lines from him in that style.

[Buscemi]

I remember having to sit through an interview with Veronica Roth in a class (the final in the class was to do a profile on an author, mine was John Kennedy Toole) and she manages to come off as somewhat crazier than Stephenie Meyer (and probably without the business savvy of Meyer). To me, she comes off as a teenage Jesus freak that never grew up, happened to read The Hunger Games one day in college (Divergent began its life as a college thesis paper or something like it), and wrote something like it with a more conservative slant.

The only reason why the movies got made was that Lionsgate wanted to corner the YA adaptation market (they have Twilight and The Hunger Games) and decided follow the same formula (cast a hot young actress, get someone who can direct action, and have the young girls and awkward types see it).

As for Woodley, I'd say she was never a great actress to begin with. The Secret Life of an American Teenager is one of the worst acted shows of all-time (seriously, it's worse than 7th Heaven, of which the show's creator produced) while she was outacted in The Descendants by everyone else. I think she only gets a free pass because the Internet still thinks it's cool to hate on Kristen Stewart for simply doing a job for the money. And Teller's just annoying (like an intentionally-trained version of Justin Timberlake's acting ability).

[Shrykespeare]

Weekend Estimates

Top 10:
5 points - Zootpia, $38.0M ($200M!)
4 points - The Divergent Series: Allegient, $29.0M
3 points - Miracles From Heaven, $15.0M
2 points - 10 Cloverfield Lane, $12.5M
1 point - Deadpool, $8.0M
London Has Fallen, $6.9M
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, $2.8M
The Perfect Match, $1.9M
The Brothers Grimsby, $1.4M
The Revenant, $1.2M


PTA:
5 points - Midnight Special
4 points - Zootopia
3 points - Hello, My Name is Doris
2 points - The Divergent Series: Allegient
1 point - Krisha



In other news, Spectre, down to only nine theaters, FINALLY inched over the $200M mark.

[W]

Lionsgate is panicking about Allegiant. Who's betting against a Hunger Games prequel announced very, very soon?

[Shrykespeare]

Weekend Actuals

Top 10:
5 points - Zootpia, $37.2M
4 points - The Divergent Series: Allegient, $29.0M
3 points - Miracles From Heaven, $14.8M
2 points - 10 Cloverfield Lane, $12.5M
1 point - Deadpool, $8.0M
London Has Fallen, $6.8M
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, $2.8M
The Perfect Match, $2.0M
The Brothers Grimsby, $1.4M
The Revenant, $1.2M


PTA:
5 points - Midnight Special, $38,002
4 points - Eye in the Sky, $12,077
3 points - Zootopia, $9,387
2 points - Hello, My Name is Doris, $7,798
1 point - The Divergent Series: Allegient, $7,761

[Buscemi]

Lionsgate is panicking about Allegiant. Who's betting against a Hunger Games prequel announced very, very soon?

I imagine it only happens if Suzanne Collins wants it. A few years back, there were plans for a sixth Twilight but Stephenie Meyer wouldn't sell Midnight Sun's rights (there was a rumor that Wes Craven wanted to adapt it before his death) and The Host flopped so those plans became a series of online shorts instead. Also, The Hunger Games' box office numbers declined quite a bit after the first two (though foreign grosses improved a bit) so it's possible audiences are just tired of YA adaptations period. If they can get Collins to write the prequel (and Collins is an experienced TV writer), the fortunes should improve for the franchise.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate is just not having a good 2016. The Lionsgate and Summit divisions have been striking out with film after film (Norm of the North should have gone straight-to-DVD, Dirty Grandpa was a contender for the worst received De Niro film, The Choice came years too late, Gods of Egypt stands to lose over $100 million, and Allegiant is part of a sinking ship that shows why announcing multiple sequels before the first film's release is a horrible idea). Roadside's looking pretty good with Hello, My Name is Doris (the Sony/Stage 6 title this month that's making money, and in way fewer theatres than The Bronze) but that's a diamond in a pile of rocks. Lionsgate doesn't need just a big hit. They need a deep cleanse. Expect Ascendant to possibly be canceled and some studio heads to roll.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Well, Ascendant won't be canceled but it looks like Lionsgate is trying to minimize their losses as much as possible: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/l ... eakingnews

I'm pretty surprised they didn't just shoot both films back to back, like every other two part movie has done.

[Chienfantome]

I'm disappointed Krisha didn't grab PTA points this week.

[Shrykespeare]

I'm disappointed Krisha didn't grab PTA points this week.

Yeah, it just missed.

[Chienfantome]

It had great reviews, A24 behind it and a small number of theaters. The film is good. Come on !

[Buscemi]

Just because A24's distributing doesn't always mean it will be a hit. See The Rover, Life After Beth, Tusk, Laggies, Son of a Gun, Slow West, Barely Lethal, Dark Places, and Mojave. They've had more box office flops than the entertainment people like to point out (the Lionsgate and Netflix deals likely allowed some of these to break even though).

[Chienfantome]

but I'm not even talking about A24 doing only hits. I'm talking about a strong film which debuted at Cannes having great reviews, great WOM and a release patern with potential. It wasn't supposed to make $40,000 PTA, but Something around 10,000 wasn't too much to ask.