Walleye's Weekly Winners: The Films of 9/9
Posted: September 7th, 2017, 1:58 pm
Sorry gentlemen, busy week here at the Walleye house, so this is a little late and not my best work. But that’s okay because the last several weekends have been utter garbage at the Cinemas. And this week – we are here for one thing, and one thing only: It
The Stephen King nightmare novel is finally being given the big screen treatment. There was an above average TV movie made decades ago, but for that generation and a whole new generation who think they know King, this has become the Movie Event of the Fall. Bigger than Kingsman, bigger than Blade Runner. Even bigger than My Little Pony. It is going to scare the crap out of teens and Baby Boomers alike for weeks to come. If you’re not familiar with the story I don’t want to give it away so, just, clowns. Creepy clowns. Like, really creepy. You’ll never look at a 9 year olds birthday party clown the same way. It will win the weekend, and next, the only question is how big will It get? Thanks to the scorched earth that was August, It is going to be monstrous. It won’t hit triple digits, but it should be the biggest horror opener of all time. I predict 85 million for the opening weekend, on it’s way to $175 total. Yeah, that’s bold, but that’s my prediction and I’m sticking to it. If you don’t have It on your slates you need to add it. Today. And if you’re the lucky loser (see what I did there) who got It in the Full year draft, kudos to you my friend.
In what should have been excellent counter-programming we have Home Again opening and landing in second place this weekend. I love Reese Witherspoon, She’s been fantastic since The Man in the Moon, was so good in Pleasantville, and has never lost her mojo in my opinion. In the last few years she’s had one misfire (Hot Pursuit), but her Producer slate and TV work has been incredible. Will it be enough to get people to watch her flirt cute with a man nearly half her age? Again, normally I’d say yes. Home Again should be your classic Fall sleeper pick. Good for 7-8 Top 5 points, a few PTA, and a decent Box Office run. But these are not normal times. Still, I think the above predictions are close, simply because the next weekend doesn’t give us much to be excited about either (Mother and American Assassin won’t play large.) The biggest drawback to this one will be in Box Office, where it just won’t have the legs you’re looking for. The movie, that is. Reese still does. I’d look at it in Ultimate, but you can probably do better elsewhere.
As to the PTA front, we’ve got 4 movies that will all lose to It, but there’s still a few points to be had if you’re feeling risky.
But don't start with the Good Catholic, although in my opinion this looks like the best of the bunch. We’ve got it in the game, but there’s no way of knowing if this movie is actually going to release other than On Demand. If you want to see a decent movie about people of faith struggling with real issues, this looks pretty good. But don’t pick it for your slates.
The Unknown Girl looks really interesting, but it’s French and on 2 screens. That’s usually a bad combo for game purposes, and I see no reason to buck that trend here. I’d stay away.
Trophy looks above average as well, with a mostly unbiased look at the Big game hunting vs. wildlife preserve debate going on in Africa and Asia. I feel like the Documentary crowd saw Dolores last weekend, so I don’t know if this is a good pick-up or not. You can probably do better with the Oscar bait coming out in the next few weeks.
And finally we have Rebel in the Rye, about my son’s least favorite book of all time. Seriously he hated Catcher in the Rye, not that I disagree with him. So, I won’t be seeing this one. Plus, in spite of the good cast and the fact that everyone in Hollywood seems to think Holden Caulfield is an interesting protagonist, I just don’t see this one breaking out either. You might get 4 PTA points but the IMDB rating is a 6. Save your hard earned cash for later.
That’s all I’ve got! Tell me how It is, no way am I seeing that!
Top 5
It
Home Again
Hitman’s Bodyguard
Annabelle Creation
Wind River
PTA
It
Rebel in the Rye
Trophy
Home Again
Unknown Girl
The Stephen King nightmare novel is finally being given the big screen treatment. There was an above average TV movie made decades ago, but for that generation and a whole new generation who think they know King, this has become the Movie Event of the Fall. Bigger than Kingsman, bigger than Blade Runner. Even bigger than My Little Pony. It is going to scare the crap out of teens and Baby Boomers alike for weeks to come. If you’re not familiar with the story I don’t want to give it away so, just, clowns. Creepy clowns. Like, really creepy. You’ll never look at a 9 year olds birthday party clown the same way. It will win the weekend, and next, the only question is how big will It get? Thanks to the scorched earth that was August, It is going to be monstrous. It won’t hit triple digits, but it should be the biggest horror opener of all time. I predict 85 million for the opening weekend, on it’s way to $175 total. Yeah, that’s bold, but that’s my prediction and I’m sticking to it. If you don’t have It on your slates you need to add it. Today. And if you’re the lucky loser (see what I did there) who got It in the Full year draft, kudos to you my friend.
In what should have been excellent counter-programming we have Home Again opening and landing in second place this weekend. I love Reese Witherspoon, She’s been fantastic since The Man in the Moon, was so good in Pleasantville, and has never lost her mojo in my opinion. In the last few years she’s had one misfire (Hot Pursuit), but her Producer slate and TV work has been incredible. Will it be enough to get people to watch her flirt cute with a man nearly half her age? Again, normally I’d say yes. Home Again should be your classic Fall sleeper pick. Good for 7-8 Top 5 points, a few PTA, and a decent Box Office run. But these are not normal times. Still, I think the above predictions are close, simply because the next weekend doesn’t give us much to be excited about either (Mother and American Assassin won’t play large.) The biggest drawback to this one will be in Box Office, where it just won’t have the legs you’re looking for. The movie, that is. Reese still does. I’d look at it in Ultimate, but you can probably do better elsewhere.
As to the PTA front, we’ve got 4 movies that will all lose to It, but there’s still a few points to be had if you’re feeling risky.
But don't start with the Good Catholic, although in my opinion this looks like the best of the bunch. We’ve got it in the game, but there’s no way of knowing if this movie is actually going to release other than On Demand. If you want to see a decent movie about people of faith struggling with real issues, this looks pretty good. But don’t pick it for your slates.
The Unknown Girl looks really interesting, but it’s French and on 2 screens. That’s usually a bad combo for game purposes, and I see no reason to buck that trend here. I’d stay away.
Trophy looks above average as well, with a mostly unbiased look at the Big game hunting vs. wildlife preserve debate going on in Africa and Asia. I feel like the Documentary crowd saw Dolores last weekend, so I don’t know if this is a good pick-up or not. You can probably do better with the Oscar bait coming out in the next few weeks.
And finally we have Rebel in the Rye, about my son’s least favorite book of all time. Seriously he hated Catcher in the Rye, not that I disagree with him. So, I won’t be seeing this one. Plus, in spite of the good cast and the fact that everyone in Hollywood seems to think Holden Caulfield is an interesting protagonist, I just don’t see this one breaking out either. You might get 4 PTA points but the IMDB rating is a 6. Save your hard earned cash for later.
That’s all I’ve got! Tell me how It is, no way am I seeing that!
Top 5
It
Home Again
Hitman’s Bodyguard
Annabelle Creation
Wind River
PTA
It
Rebel in the Rye
Trophy
Home Again
Unknown Girl