Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Mr. Columnist himself presents weekly analysis and tips.

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Walleye413
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Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Walleye413 »

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

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numbersix
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by numbersix »

I see A Dog's Way Home just nipping it to the 2nd place position. Families love dogs. The Upside is suffering from bad reviews, from it not being a comedy, and from STX's struggles.

Top 5
1. Aquaman - 16m
2. A Dog’s Way Home - 12m
3. The Upside - 11m
4. Mary Poppins - 10m
5. Spiderman - 8m

PTA: Cold War, Destroyer, Stan and Ollie, A Dog's Way, Perfect Strangers

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Shrykespeare »

Theater Counts:

A Dog's Way Home - 3,090
The Upside - 3,080
Replicas - 2,327
Perfect Strangers - 125

On the Basis of Sex - 2000



Celebrity birthdays:

Nina Dobrev turned 30 on 1/9 (but you already knew that)
Happy 60th birthday Jet Li! (4/26/23)

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by undeadmonkey »

I think On the Basis of Sex could sneak into the top 5. At least i'm hoping it will

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Buscemi2 »

I'm convinced Keanu only did Replicas to get a free trip to Puerto Rico. Usually, he seems to turn down this kind of film.
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Screen203 »

Replicas looks mildly enjoyable, actually. Don't know why I want to see a movie with special effects that look like they came out of Bicentennial Man.

Still looks more watchable than the Flatliners remake. It's an Entertainment Studios production, so it should be enjoyable no matter what. ;)
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Buscemi2 »

Entertainment Studios picked up the film. I don't think they've released an in-house production yet (the 47 Meters Down sequel will likely be the first).
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by numbersix »

Yeah, Lotus produced this one. Think Keanu did it because the story resonated with him on a personal level (his ex died in a car crash)

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Buscemi2 »

Cinemascores:

On the Basis of Sex: A
The Upside: A
A Dog's Way Home: A-
Replicas: C
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Shrykespeare »

Friday Estimates

The Upside, $6.9M
Aquaman, $4.6M
A Dog's Way Home, $3.3M
Escape Room, $2.6M
Spider-Man, $2.2M
On the Basis of Sex, $2.1M
Mary Poppins, $1.8M
Bumblebee, $1.8M
The Mule, $1.7M
Vice, $1.0M
Replicas, $950K




Weekend Projections

The Upside, $19M
Aquaman, $15.8M
A Dog's Way Home, $12M
Escape Room, $8.3M
Spider-Man, $7.5M
On the Basis of Sex, $6.5M
Mary Poppins, $6.0M
Bumblebee, $5.9M
The Mule $5.8M
Vice, $3.7M
Replicas, $3.0M
Happy 60th birthday Jet Li! (4/26/23)

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Shrykespeare »

Color me surprised.


Top 10:
5 points - The Upside, $19.5
4 points - Aquaman, $17.3M
3 points - A Dog's Way Home, $11.3M
2 points - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, $9.0M
1 point - Escape Room, $8.9M
Mary Poppins Returns, $7.2M
Bumblebee, $6.8M
On the Basis of Sex, $6.3M
The Mule, $5.5M
Vice, $3.3M

12. Replicas, $2.5M


PTA:
5 points - Cold War
4 points - Stan & Ollie
3 points - The Upside
2 points - Destroyer
1 point - Aquaman

Cold War has turned into a PTA juggernaut. This would make 15 PTA points, hitting #1 for the first time in its FOURTH week!





Aquaman will hit $300M within the next week.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse looks like it'll hit $170M. Same with Mary Poppins Returns.

Bumblebee continues to be a (kind of) surprise hit and may hit $125M.

The Mule has still has an outside shot at $100M.

Bohemian Rhapsody will make it to $200M next weekend, no doubt bolstered by all the Globe awards.

Ralph Breaks the Internet crosses $190M. $200M seems unlikely, but it did outdo its predecessor.
Happy 60th birthday Jet Li! (4/26/23)

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by numbersix »

Did not see The Upside performing that well. Good for STX, they needed a hit

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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Screen203 »

The Mule should definitely hit 100 million.

And Bohemian's numbers don't surprise me. A massive amount of people were exiting the IMAX showing (it was the only showing of the day, however) when I went to see If Beale Street Could Talk.
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Buscemi2 »

They're also doing sing-along screenings for Bohemian Rhapsody as well. This also could have been a factor in its increase.

And thanks for reminding me about that deafening IMAX mix. I thought my eardrums would burst because it was so loud.
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Re: Walleye's Weekly Winners - 1/11/19

Post by Screen203 »

Buscemi2 wrote:They're also doing sing-along screenings for Bohemian Rhapsody as well. This also could have been a factor in its increase.

And thanks for reminding me about that deafening IMAX mix. I thought my eardrums would burst because it was so loud.
It was loud enough in the regular showing. I can't imagine how loud it was in IMAX. This theater isn't running the sing-along for whatever reason.
It's not destroying. It's making something new.

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