Bold Box Office Predictions: April 22-24, 2016
Notable Openings This Weekend: The Huntsman: Winter’s War
These next two weeks are what you’d call the calm before the storm. You can feel the summer movie season coming like a freight train. Captain America is sitting at home comfortably waxing his shield, while Black Panther gives him a back rub. Before we get to that though, we’ve still got work to do. Boring work. I’m sure when Universal set this release date for The Huntsman: Winter’s War, they thought they could skate by with no competition. Judging from early reviews, that may not be the case.
The first Huntsman, Snow White and the Huntsman, was a modest hit four years ago, so this sequel really has me scratching my head. You’re going to make a sequel to a movie people didn’t love, and did merely okay at the box office? Why? People loved Charlize Theron as Ravenna, and Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, who back in 2012 was fresh off his Thor popularity. What did people hate about the film? Surprise, surprise, Kristen Stewart as Snow White. I guess in their minds if they got rid of the problem, and kept the strengths, everything would be hunky-dory. Eh. It’s not like Chris Hemsworth has been lighting up the box office outside of Thor. I think this is a prequel or something, I don’t know, who cares. This won’t completely tank, but we’ll forget this movie existed come Monday morning.
Winter’s War is also unfortunate to be running into the Donkey Kong sized banana that is Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book. It’s another example of how much power Rotten Tomatoes has. Nobody expected that film to hit over $100 Million, but good buzz gave Mowgli and the crew a massive bump, no question. And even though I’m the lone grumpy gus about the film in my review, there’s no denying its success.
HOW WILL IT ALL BREAK DOWN…
The Jungle Book should easily retain the top spot while Winter’s War limps over $20 Million for a completely forgettable box office. It looks like another yawner for Chris Hemsworth, who’s not much of a draw without his mjolnir. Let’s also have a moment of silence for Batman v Superman’s final week in the top five.
1. The Jungle Book — $58 Million
2. The Huntsman: Winter’s War — $23 Million
3. Barbershop: The Next Cut — $12 Million
4. The Boss – $5 Million
5. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — $4.5 Million
