Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19
Posted: January 10th, 2019, 2:48 am
Is it MLK Jr. weekend yet? No? Sigh, oh well. There are, at the least, a new crop of movies to entertain us. Most of them won’t make as much noise as Escape Room did last week. Kudos to those of you who picked it for your slates. For the rest of us suckers, let’s see if there’s anything worth taking in week two of 2019.
Two films are vying for top newcomer this week. The favorite should have been the Upside. A remake of a beloved French film The Intouchables. Do Americans really need to remake great foreign films? I don’t find it so annoying I admit. Heck, everybody remakes great movies. Perhaps you’ve heard of Romeo and Juliet? I think I’ve seen it a few times - under a few different names. The Upside has, well upside. Kevin Hart is a big star, Bryan Cranston has a following, Nicole Kidman always does excellent work. Course - Kevin Hart has dug himself a bit of a hole recently, but I don’t think it’s going to affect this movie as much as it might have. The less said about Weinstein the better. Regardless, I don’t think it’s going to make much more than 10 million opening weekend, and maybe 25 million total. That’ll be good for a few Top 5 points, 4-5 maybe, 1-3 PTA. It’s not the worst pick, but it’s not the best either.
Its near equal will be A Dog’s Way Home. We’ve seen some dog movies do quite well in the past - several in January. But this one doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction. Perhaps because this movie seriously showed its whole story in the trailer. No really, I know we joke about it - but watch this one it’s the whole dang movie. Who would spend 12 bucks to watch it now? It’ll get close to that same 10 mil mark, but fall off even faster with poor word of mouth from cat owners. I’d go Upside if I had to pick one of the two - but if your gut tells you to go your own way go for it.
The less said about Replicas the better. This looks bad. Like so bad they don’t know how to market it bad. Keanu Reeves somehow manages to not become Nicolas Cage by churning out some hits here in his later years. But this sure ain’t one of them. He’s a scientist who clones his family who all died? I’m sorry, he’s a scientist? Yeah - this will bomb. Maybe 5 million on its way to 10-12 total. If that. No PTA, No Top 5 points, and no reason to choose it. Bleah.
Perfect Strangers is a Spanish remake of an Italian movie of the same name (Hey, they do it in Europe too.) It’s a clever conceit that 7 good friends decide to reveal all of their texts and messages received on their phones over the course of a dinner. The revelations go from funny to startling, to life altering over the course of the meal. This is billed as a comedy but sure has dramedy written all over it. It’s got a decent IMDB score and it could sneak out a few PTA points but in 125 screens I wouldn’t count on more than 1-2. There are better options for your Ultimate slates and in Box Office it’s a non-starter. Save your dollars. Or Euros.
And that, as they say, is that. Punt the weekend, watch some good old American Football instead, and wait for Glass next week. Until then.
Top 5
Aquaman
The Upside
A Dog’s Way Home
Mary Poppins
Spiderman
PTA
(Um no idea - what a hard week to pick)
On the Basis of Sex
Destroyer
The Upside
Perfect Strangers
A Dog’s Way Home
Two films are vying for top newcomer this week. The favorite should have been the Upside. A remake of a beloved French film The Intouchables. Do Americans really need to remake great foreign films? I don’t find it so annoying I admit. Heck, everybody remakes great movies. Perhaps you’ve heard of Romeo and Juliet? I think I’ve seen it a few times - under a few different names. The Upside has, well upside. Kevin Hart is a big star, Bryan Cranston has a following, Nicole Kidman always does excellent work. Course - Kevin Hart has dug himself a bit of a hole recently, but I don’t think it’s going to affect this movie as much as it might have. The less said about Weinstein the better. Regardless, I don’t think it’s going to make much more than 10 million opening weekend, and maybe 25 million total. That’ll be good for a few Top 5 points, 4-5 maybe, 1-3 PTA. It’s not the worst pick, but it’s not the best either.
Its near equal will be A Dog’s Way Home. We’ve seen some dog movies do quite well in the past - several in January. But this one doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction. Perhaps because this movie seriously showed its whole story in the trailer. No really, I know we joke about it - but watch this one it’s the whole dang movie. Who would spend 12 bucks to watch it now? It’ll get close to that same 10 mil mark, but fall off even faster with poor word of mouth from cat owners. I’d go Upside if I had to pick one of the two - but if your gut tells you to go your own way go for it.
The less said about Replicas the better. This looks bad. Like so bad they don’t know how to market it bad. Keanu Reeves somehow manages to not become Nicolas Cage by churning out some hits here in his later years. But this sure ain’t one of them. He’s a scientist who clones his family who all died? I’m sorry, he’s a scientist? Yeah - this will bomb. Maybe 5 million on its way to 10-12 total. If that. No PTA, No Top 5 points, and no reason to choose it. Bleah.
Perfect Strangers is a Spanish remake of an Italian movie of the same name (Hey, they do it in Europe too.) It’s a clever conceit that 7 good friends decide to reveal all of their texts and messages received on their phones over the course of a dinner. The revelations go from funny to startling, to life altering over the course of the meal. This is billed as a comedy but sure has dramedy written all over it. It’s got a decent IMDB score and it could sneak out a few PTA points but in 125 screens I wouldn’t count on more than 1-2. There are better options for your Ultimate slates and in Box Office it’s a non-starter. Save your dollars. Or Euros.
And that, as they say, is that. Punt the weekend, watch some good old American Football instead, and wait for Glass next week. Until then.
Top 5
Aquaman
The Upside
A Dog’s Way Home
Mary Poppins
Spiderman
PTA
(Um no idea - what a hard week to pick)
On the Basis of Sex
Destroyer
The Upside
Perfect Strangers
A Dog’s Way Home