Walleye's Weekly Winners: The Films of 6/2
Posted: May 31st, 2017, 11:09 pm
Yowza. May receipts are down 22% from last year, and a horrid 44% from the year before that. I’ve got to say when we did the draft this year, I thought this would be a weaker year all around Box Office wise, and sadly that has proven to be very accurate. Pirates’ lackluster opening could be expected, but Baywatch? Nobody expected it to bomb that bad! And bomb it did. I bet the drop-off for both movies is terrible this next weekend as well. If only there were a Superhero who could save the summer from blah sequels and bad returns! But wait –what’s that on the horizon? A scantily clad hero swooping in to save the day? Yes, our hero is here ladies and gentlemen. Give thanks for Captain Underpants!
Maybe not the hero you were expecting, but this is the hero you need! Captain Underpants is the latest Dreamworks animation title that’s going to do way better than we all think it would/should. The books it’s based on have been around for forever. Their moment has passed, they should have done this movie 8 years ago! But – it doesn’t matter. Kids haven’t had anything good to watch at the movies since Guardians, and Beauty before that! Well, and the Boss Baby. Which wasn’t good but still had an amazing Box Office run all things considered. Dreamworks strikes again. If you’re not familiar with the Captain Underpants series – it really is pretty clever. I’ve read several of them with my kids over the years and they made me chuckle. Definitely falls into the category of “Yeah, I’d sit through that with my kids”, because I’ve sat through so much worse. With parents not totally dragging their feet, and a positive reaction from kids this movie will do well in a crowded Summer, especially getting out first before Cars and Minions swoop in. I’ll predict a 30 million opening weekend, and final take of $125 million. That’ll get you 7 Top 5 points and 3-5 PTA points as well. It’s underpriced in almost all leagues, and if you can get it on your slates you should.
The same cannot be said for 3 Idiotas. Yes, we should all learn that there is a very under-served Latino population that wants something other than a Fast and Furious movie. But I don’t think this one serves you well for game purposes. It’s coming out in a few hundred screens, so for Ultimate you’ll get no PTA points. The user rating is 4! 4! Heck, Twilight has a 5! And reviews don’t sound good. 3 Idiotas is based on a much better Bollywood movie of the same name/plot/etc. I wouldn’t even take this one in Box Office, it’s not the second coming of How to be a Latin Lover. Wait for something better.
Which could be Dean, except. . . 15 screens. 15. Why are these art house movies so cruel to us this week? Dean, by most accounts, appears to be a good little movie from the hands of the uber-talented Demetri Martin. It’s a first effort from him, and I expect him to only get better. This has your standard comedy/drama plot about love, loss, and growing up. The cast is pretty stellar, but again: 15. Plus a 6 IMDB rating makes this one a hard pass as well.
Which leaves the underpriced Past Life as your best option for PTA love this week. Unless I’m mistaken, it’s $2 in the game, and you won’t get a better combo of events to score some points from a $2 movie in this game. It’s a foreign film, with a holocaust connection. Not the most uplifting of films for the summer season, but it’s got a 7 IMDB rating and if it comes out on your standard 3-4 screens it will get you 4 PTA points as well. That’s a bargain. Pick it up.
But the final underpriced movie of the week is – surprisingly – Wonder Woman. When was the last time a DC movie was underpriced? The Dark Knight? Wonder Woman had little buzz a year ago, in spite of Gal Gadot being one of the best things about Batman v. Superman. DC just kept putting out such garbage. One of the podcasts I listen to has been filled with DC insiders quietly trashing on Wonder Woman for months as well. Well, how do you like her now? The best reviewed film in the Marvel/DC superhero world! A revelatory performance from Gadot. And a crappy month of May to whet the appetites of Americans looking for any national hero they can cheer for. Wonder Woman is going to be a massive hit. It’ll make $105 million it’s opening weekend (yeah, I’m calling three digits) and it will clear $275 million when it’s all said and done. Not 300 million, but I wouldn’t be too shocked at this point. Plus the Top 5 points (13-15) the PTA (8-10) and a solid IMDB score. If you didn’t put this Superhero on your slates, you have chosen poorly. Pick it up before it’s too late.
And that’s it for this week. Next week sees Tom Cruise trying to work his magic in The Mummy (hint, he’ll lose to the second weekend of Wonder Woman) plus a horror movie and a war hero movie. My money is on the dog.
Top 5
Wonder Woman
Captain Underpants
POTC
Guardians of the Galaxy
Nothing else deserves to be here (except maybe Everything, Everything)
PTA
Wonder Woman
Captain Underpants
Past Life
Dean
Paris Can Wait
Maybe not the hero you were expecting, but this is the hero you need! Captain Underpants is the latest Dreamworks animation title that’s going to do way better than we all think it would/should. The books it’s based on have been around for forever. Their moment has passed, they should have done this movie 8 years ago! But – it doesn’t matter. Kids haven’t had anything good to watch at the movies since Guardians, and Beauty before that! Well, and the Boss Baby. Which wasn’t good but still had an amazing Box Office run all things considered. Dreamworks strikes again. If you’re not familiar with the Captain Underpants series – it really is pretty clever. I’ve read several of them with my kids over the years and they made me chuckle. Definitely falls into the category of “Yeah, I’d sit through that with my kids”, because I’ve sat through so much worse. With parents not totally dragging their feet, and a positive reaction from kids this movie will do well in a crowded Summer, especially getting out first before Cars and Minions swoop in. I’ll predict a 30 million opening weekend, and final take of $125 million. That’ll get you 7 Top 5 points and 3-5 PTA points as well. It’s underpriced in almost all leagues, and if you can get it on your slates you should.
The same cannot be said for 3 Idiotas. Yes, we should all learn that there is a very under-served Latino population that wants something other than a Fast and Furious movie. But I don’t think this one serves you well for game purposes. It’s coming out in a few hundred screens, so for Ultimate you’ll get no PTA points. The user rating is 4! 4! Heck, Twilight has a 5! And reviews don’t sound good. 3 Idiotas is based on a much better Bollywood movie of the same name/plot/etc. I wouldn’t even take this one in Box Office, it’s not the second coming of How to be a Latin Lover. Wait for something better.
Which could be Dean, except. . . 15 screens. 15. Why are these art house movies so cruel to us this week? Dean, by most accounts, appears to be a good little movie from the hands of the uber-talented Demetri Martin. It’s a first effort from him, and I expect him to only get better. This has your standard comedy/drama plot about love, loss, and growing up. The cast is pretty stellar, but again: 15. Plus a 6 IMDB rating makes this one a hard pass as well.
Which leaves the underpriced Past Life as your best option for PTA love this week. Unless I’m mistaken, it’s $2 in the game, and you won’t get a better combo of events to score some points from a $2 movie in this game. It’s a foreign film, with a holocaust connection. Not the most uplifting of films for the summer season, but it’s got a 7 IMDB rating and if it comes out on your standard 3-4 screens it will get you 4 PTA points as well. That’s a bargain. Pick it up.
But the final underpriced movie of the week is – surprisingly – Wonder Woman. When was the last time a DC movie was underpriced? The Dark Knight? Wonder Woman had little buzz a year ago, in spite of Gal Gadot being one of the best things about Batman v. Superman. DC just kept putting out such garbage. One of the podcasts I listen to has been filled with DC insiders quietly trashing on Wonder Woman for months as well. Well, how do you like her now? The best reviewed film in the Marvel/DC superhero world! A revelatory performance from Gadot. And a crappy month of May to whet the appetites of Americans looking for any national hero they can cheer for. Wonder Woman is going to be a massive hit. It’ll make $105 million it’s opening weekend (yeah, I’m calling three digits) and it will clear $275 million when it’s all said and done. Not 300 million, but I wouldn’t be too shocked at this point. Plus the Top 5 points (13-15) the PTA (8-10) and a solid IMDB score. If you didn’t put this Superhero on your slates, you have chosen poorly. Pick it up before it’s too late.
And that’s it for this week. Next week sees Tom Cruise trying to work his magic in The Mummy (hint, he’ll lose to the second weekend of Wonder Woman) plus a horror movie and a war hero movie. My money is on the dog.
Top 5
Wonder Woman
Captain Underpants
POTC
Guardians of the Galaxy
Nothing else deserves to be here (except maybe Everything, Everything)
PTA
Wonder Woman
Captain Underpants
Past Life
Dean
Paris Can Wait