SIX TIPS, OR HOW TO PLEASE YOUR SLATE – THE FILMS OF 9/23
Posted: September 21st, 2022, 3:52 pm
Much like Louis CK’s inevitable journey towards exposing himself in front of unwilling women once again, the box office is slowly crawling its way back to the public, luring it in with promise of good, clean fun. Last week saw the release of The Woman King, a film featuring an all-black, female cast. What would never have been funded 10 years ago turned out to be a #1 hit, with glowing reviews and a delighted audience response. Expect that woman king (aka queen) to whoop and hold her Top 5 crown for weeks to come. And horror Barbarian, despite been given the kiss-of-death by getting good reviews, is holding surprisingly well. Perhaps the studio strategy of not releasing any film for a whole month wasn’t the best way to make money?
Don’t Worry Darling (Warner Bros) is a film that really should be worrying. Despite being directed by Olivia “So hot right now” Wilde and with early promo material looking distinct, if not exciting, controversary wound its way to it. Firstly, Shia LeBeouf, who has un-cancelled himself by conveniently becoming Catholic, posted messages between him and Wilde contradicting the story that he was fired for being too troublesome (despite claims from his ex that he beat her). On top of that, star of the film Florence Pugh reportedly did not have a good time and is doing no press. And some clips of Harry Styles (who replaced the beef) reveal a potentially Razzie-worthy performance. So, this film about a weird, tight-knit community in the same vein as The Stepford Wives, looks like a bomb. Right? Well, strangely no. Despite the poor reviews from the festivals, apparently the controversary is helping the film’s tracking. There really is no such thing as bad news.
Despite the highballing, I’m a little more cautious about this film. Expect it to open in the mid teens but plummet from poor word of mouth, and end up in the mid 30s at best, which is okay for $8, but you can get better. However, for $7 in Ultimate you could get 8 T5 points, a low 6 IMDB score, and 1-2 PTA points, making it a decent filler.
We don’t tend to play re-releases from the vaults, but with not much happening this week, here’s Avatar (Disney), marking that iconic anniversary of… 13 years? It’s actually to whet the appetite for the sequel, which is due out this December, or until there’s a single pixel not blue enough for Cameron, who will then push it to 2044. There have been a few re-releases lately, and they’ve performed quite well, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home. More relevant is Jaws, which opened to $2.6m two weeks ago. Expect Avatar to do something similar, which makes it a waste of your $4 in Ult and BO.
Predictions for the weekend
1. Don’t Worry Darling - $15m
2. The Woman King- $10m
3. Barbarian - $3.5m
4. Avatar (Re-Release) - $2.5m
5. See How They Run: $2m
PTA: Don’t Worry, The Woman King, Moonage Daydream, Barbarian, Avatar
Next week sees two new wide releases, Bros and Smile, and two limited releases Vesper and The Good House, which Tranny will tell you all about.
Don’t Worry Darling (Warner Bros) is a film that really should be worrying. Despite being directed by Olivia “So hot right now” Wilde and with early promo material looking distinct, if not exciting, controversary wound its way to it. Firstly, Shia LeBeouf, who has un-cancelled himself by conveniently becoming Catholic, posted messages between him and Wilde contradicting the story that he was fired for being too troublesome (despite claims from his ex that he beat her). On top of that, star of the film Florence Pugh reportedly did not have a good time and is doing no press. And some clips of Harry Styles (who replaced the beef) reveal a potentially Razzie-worthy performance. So, this film about a weird, tight-knit community in the same vein as The Stepford Wives, looks like a bomb. Right? Well, strangely no. Despite the poor reviews from the festivals, apparently the controversary is helping the film’s tracking. There really is no such thing as bad news.
Despite the highballing, I’m a little more cautious about this film. Expect it to open in the mid teens but plummet from poor word of mouth, and end up in the mid 30s at best, which is okay for $8, but you can get better. However, for $7 in Ultimate you could get 8 T5 points, a low 6 IMDB score, and 1-2 PTA points, making it a decent filler.
We don’t tend to play re-releases from the vaults, but with not much happening this week, here’s Avatar (Disney), marking that iconic anniversary of… 13 years? It’s actually to whet the appetite for the sequel, which is due out this December, or until there’s a single pixel not blue enough for Cameron, who will then push it to 2044. There have been a few re-releases lately, and they’ve performed quite well, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home. More relevant is Jaws, which opened to $2.6m two weeks ago. Expect Avatar to do something similar, which makes it a waste of your $4 in Ult and BO.
Predictions for the weekend
1. Don’t Worry Darling - $15m
2. The Woman King- $10m
3. Barbarian - $3.5m
4. Avatar (Re-Release) - $2.5m
5. See How They Run: $2m
PTA: Don’t Worry, The Woman King, Moonage Daydream, Barbarian, Avatar
Next week sees two new wide releases, Bros and Smile, and two limited releases Vesper and The Good House, which Tranny will tell you all about.