Notable Openings This Weekend: Don Jon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Rush
I’m back! It’s been a couple weeks since my last round of box office predictions. I’ve actually been on a spiritual quest in an undisclosed location training with Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows to become a better box office prognosticator. Well, that’s not true. But I am here to crunch the numbers once again as we close out the last weekend of September. This time of year is always difficult because we get a lot of movies coming out of limited release to wide release, but still not in a ton of theaters, sort of like a mid wide release, like we have with Rush and Don Jon, both opening in under 3,000 theaters. But let’s kick it off with the big gun in this weekend’s box office fight.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 should fare pretty well as it’s the biggest kid’s opening we’ve had in the last few weeks. The original was very well liked, it has a lot of pretty colors, and it’s been marketed like crazy. The only worry is the four year lay off from the previous film, but this should do Croods/Wreck-It Ralph type numbers for an easy #1 finish.
Next we have Ron Howard’s Rush, the racing drama starring Daniel Bruhl and Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. As I mentioned before, it’s not opening in a ton of theaters, but I think people feel like this is the first Oscarish type movie to open this year, and that could attract a lot of moviegoers. Add in a proven director and star, and Rush should put up solid business.
Then we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Rom-Com Don Jon, in which he stars, writes, and directs. You could pretty much call this Joseph Gordon-Levitt: The Movie. Levitt is certainly a popular name right now, but as a headliner, he hasn’t exactly broken the bank. His last three starring roles include 50/50, Premium Rush, and Looper, which opened at around $9, $6, and $21 million respectively. Looper also had Bruce Willis. People seem curious about this one though, and the trailers are getting a good response. Don Jon will do better than expected business.
How Will It All Break Down…
As we exit the doldrums of September, this should make for a pretty good weekend all around.
TOP 5 BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
1) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 — $44.5 Million
2) Rush — $14.5 Million
3) Prisoners — $12.5 Million
4) Don Jon – $11.5 Million
5) Insidious Chapter 2 – $8.5 Million
